Uchiha Sasuke, Wanderer
by Mystickenji
Summary: His clan is avenged, and the war is over, so now what's an Uchiha to do? A Naruto-ish fic, Sasuke-centric. On hold.
1. The Voyage Continues

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 1 – The Voyage Continues

Uchiha Sasuke was many things: 16 years old, the very last of his clan (now that Madara was truly dead as opposed to the sort-of dead he was before), a genius, an idiot, a traitor, a hero, a leader, a follower, a pawn and many more. But there was one thing that one this day, right here and now, this lovely day upon the ocean blue with the wind on his back and the sun overhead, that he was far more than any of those other things.

He was bored. Truly, truly bored.

He was expecting some boredom, being out by himself on the open ocean, with nothing to accompany him except the waves and whatever he caught to eat… but this was far worse than he could have predicted. He groaned, rising up from the ship's deck where he was laying, watching the clouds in a very Shikamaru-like manner, to go grab "his" fishing gear. When he commandeered this boat at the Land of Waves after sneaking across Fire Country, a feat Sasuke still isn't sure as to how he accomplished, he wasn't expecting it to have any tools for fishing, but it did. Lucky him.

He felt he would need that luck later. For now, the future, which he had once set for himself, was an open field, full of endless possibilities. Itachi was dead, Madara was (hopefully still) dead, and he had lost his desire to avenge himself against _Konohagakure_. That _dobe_ Naruto was to thank for that, so now Sasuke had only one task left to him: the revival of his clan, the once-mighty Uchiha. But he was still young, so he could put that off for a while.

But that didn't explain why Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha and traitor to two different ninja villages, was now on a boat in the middle of the ocean, headed for wherever-the-wind-blows. By all accounts, he should be either dead or a prisoner in _Konohagakure_ jail, which used to be run by his own family members.

It also didn't explain the bandages covering his eyes, a handicap which the teen was decidedly learning how to ignore. As he fishes, perhaps we should uses this time to look into the past and find out the story behind this strange ornament.

The beginning of this whole mess could honestly be predated all the way to Madara's birth, but those events are of no direct relevance to us. Turning the clock back about a week or so should be enough. On some day that week, the combined forces of the five major _shinobi_ villages, along with a few samurai companies, were bearing down on Madara, Kabuto, and whatever else the two had prepared. Unfortunately, that whatever else happened to be the recently deceased Akatsuki members, brought back to life by the wannabe Dr. Frankenstein, Kabuto. Though the good _shinobi_ far outnumbered the bad _shinobi_, the fact that the Akatsuki members were nearly immortal made the struggle to defeat them last far longer than it should. Casualties mounted, but they eventually were defeated, and Kabuto was forced to flee before he could captured or summon more zombies.

That left Madara alone to face the onslaught, just him and his seven tailed beasts whose chakra he was able to manipulate freely. Clearly, this was a fair battle.

It was during the struggle to subdue the tailed beasts that Sasuke had appeared, along with Juugo and Suigetsu, who were still a bit sore about that whole getting abandoned in the Land of Iron thing. However, they were willing to temporarily team with the Uchiha once more, since it was their only option besides remaining prisoners. Everyone who noted the appearance of the trio (read: everyone) expected them to join Madara's side, especially Team 7 and Madara.

So, imagine their surprise when Team Taka suddenly started attacking the tailed beasts, giving Sasuke an opening to head straight for Madara. The allied _shinobi_ forces, while confused as hell, weren't going to argue with the aid – they needed as much as they could get. The tailed beasts were soon defeated, as they would have been, but thanks to the intervention of the Uchiha, Madara was killed. The defector had figured out some way to do it, in spite of the fact that the Fourth (and many others) had tried the very same thing and failed. However, as soon as Team 7 and the rest of the allied _shinobi_ tried to find the two Uchiha, who had slipped away in the middle of the conflict while they were dealing with the tailed beasts, Sasuke had become very absent, leaving behind Madara's corpse for them along with a short note.

It read: You won't be seeing me again. Nothing else, not even his name.

From there, the last Uchiha had made his way to the only harbor he knew of, the Land of Waves, and escaped from the elemental countries along with a few items: a large amount of _ryo_, Orochimaru's written research (everything else was burned down), all the Uchiha artifacts he could get Karin to find, clothes, ninja tools and provisions. All the necessities. By this time, he had enough fish to augment what remained in the boat's pantry, so he ceased his efforts and prepared to cook what he had – a few good-sized tuna and salmon. As he did this, he felt a chakra signature suddenly appear with his range of "vision". While he was no true sensor, he did gain some ability after seeing Karin's power and attempting to replicate it using the Sharingan. It was headed his way too, albeit very slowly, so he quickly dragged the fish into the kitchen and the returned to the outside of the boat, unwrapping the bandages as he did so.

As he waited, the person that the signature belonged to, became visible. The person was alone on what looked like a lifeboat, and apparently unconscious, so Sasuke had a decision to make – should he ignore it or not?

At various points on his journey, Sasuke would regret the decision that he made this day, for he decided not to ignore the drifter, reasoning that she (he could tell its gender now that it was closer) might be able to help him in the future. She would, but not always in the way that he wanted.

The small vessel slowly but surely made its way up to Sasuke's vessel. He decided to get a good look at his new shipmate before he blinded himself again – her brown hair went down to her shoulders and her clothes were in tatters. She also appeared to be far skinnier than she should. Perhaps she was starving? It's not like she had any food in her boat, not anything to catch fish with. The Uchiha decided to ask her about that later, when she was actually awake, and carried off her boat and onto his, dumping her in his cabin. He then headed off to the kitchen, to cook those fish he had caught. Maybe the smell would wake her up or something.


	2. Awakening

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 2, go! R&R if you will…

Chapter 2 – Awakening

The first she noticed was the smell. It wasn't a scent that she recognized, but she found that she didn't particularly care about that detail – it smelled delicious, and that was enough for her. She'd spent the past few days starving to death, and to be greeted by the heavenly aroma of (was it a fish being cooked? it smelled like one) food being cooked was enough to arouse her from her slumber, giving off a great yawn to match the noise of her rumbling stomach. She looked around, trying to find the source of the fishy aroma, when she noticed a few things that snapped her out of her starvation-induced stupor.

1. She had no idea where she was.

2. Actually she did, she was on a boat, but that didn't help matters

3. She was wearing some strange cloak… it was black with red clouds adorning it

4. Somebody was on this vessel with her, and she had no idea who it was.

Ignorance gave way to confusion and panic with these revelations. However, she knew that panic wouldn't solve anything, so she tried to think her way out of hysteria.

_Alright, Brianna, don't panic… You might be on some boat with no idea of where you are in the world, but at least you're alive! That's more than can be said for everyone else…_ She sighed, thinking over what had happened in the past few days. She'd been forced to flee her country, jumped on a boat headed for who-knows-where, caused said boat to be destroyed, and been adrift at sea in the sole surviving lifeboat. So, that meant that whoever was cooking those delicious whatever-they-were had rescued her.

Brianna perked up. Whoever this person was, he or she had also replaced her more-or-less destroyed clothing as well, and they were preparing a meal for her! They couldn't be that bad, right?

Her stomach growled again, a loud and painful roar reminding her of her extreme hunger. Groaning, she got up and left the room, hoping to relieve herself of this agony… and also to figure who had saved her.

It didn't take long to find the kitchen. Following the delightful aroma of cooked fish around the short halls of the vessel, she found herself in the kitchen in no time at all. She internally rejoiced, along with her stomach, upon reaching the source of the smell, hoping that her first meal in a few days would be coming soon. And also… she would know who to thank for saving her life.

She wondered who it was. Taking the vessel into account, it was probably only some random fisherman or explorer, but that didn't mean she could hope for something better: Someone who could help her return to her home, and re-unite her with her lost family. But now wasn't the time to think about such depressing things. Now was the time for blind gluttony! She shoved open the kitchen door, crying out "FOOD~!" as she did so, announcing her presence to whomever the chef was.

Said chef was not amused, and turned to face her, giving her a good look at the person who was evidently her savior. He looked to be a bit older than her, but not too much so. The boy's jet-black spiky hair prominently stuck up from his head, while also running down to his mid-back. He wore a blue robe in a style completely alien to her, confirming that he probably was an explorer. No foreign fisherman would sail this close to another country, after all. He was barefoot, and bandages were wrapped around his face for some reason, only covering his eyes. He approached her, opening his mouth to speak, saying… something. She had no idea what he was talking about. Besides, the food was more important than this random guy's gibberish.

"_Hn. Finally awake, are you? Mind telling me why you were out in the middle of the ocean by yourself?_"

She responded by ignoring him, focusing only on the now completely cooked fishes, ambling towards them in a zombie-like fashion. "Fooooood…" she muttered in a perfect imitation of said zombies. However, she was broken out of her hunger-induced trance once more, but this time in a less pleasant way. This time, she tripped and fell over, bashing her face into the kitchen floor, which was both painful and humiliating. It also brought her attention back onto the strange boy from earlier, whose right foot she saw under her left foot.

"Ah, y-you! W-what d'you think you're doing, tripping me like that!" she yelled at him, as she flipped herself around and stood up, glaring at him. Who did this man think he was! Did he not know who…! _Ah_, she thought, calming down, _he wouldn't_. He's a foreigner, after all. He apparently didn't even speak her language, as evidenced by his reaction to her exclamation, which was to stare at her like she was an idiot.

As for Sasuke, he was trying to figure out how he could communicate with this girl who was speaking a language he barely knew. While he had brought along (read: the boat contained) some books to translate from his language to other world languages, he still didn't know that much about them. And this idiot girl didn't know his language either. What to do, what to do… Sasuke supposed he could just ignore the girl until they got to whatever land he was headed for, but judging from the girl's action so far, that wasn't an option. How annoying…

He decided to attempt to communicate with the girl in her own language to the extent of his abilities, which would be just enough. "Fish is for later. First, who are you?"

The girl blinked, surprised that he actually knew her language well enough to try and converse with her. Perhaps this guy could help her after all! He certainly looked strong, despite the fact that he couldn't see, and he gave off a feeling of toughness, hinting at some sorrow in his past. But she could ask about that later; right now she needed to just know who he was. "Brianna Aran. Who are you?"

"Sasuke Uchiha. Why were you in boat by yourself?" he asked.

Brianna decided not to tell the boy anything more than what he absolutely needed to know… not until she knew that he was trustworthy. "The boat I was on sank. Why are you sailing alone?" she asked, hoping to learn something about her savior.

However, it seemed he wasn't in the mood to reveal anything either. "That is secret." He then changed the subject. "We reach land tomorrow." Sasuke couldn't tell if the girl was lying or not – he wasn't that skilled as a sensor just yet – he could tell that something was off about her story. If her boat had just sank, then why would be drifting away from land? Normally, she and the rest of the survivors would get on the lifeboats and sail back to land. Yet here she was, alone and fleeing the shore. She was certainly hiding something, but the Uchiha saw no reason to call her out on it just yet. It wasn't any of his business.

As for the girl, she was less than pleased by this news. Her pursuers had managed to track her all the way to a random boat among the many sailing the ocean, and destroyed without mercy, but perhaps they assumed she was dead. If that was the case, then she would only have to worry about keeping herself hidden until he could get help. But if not… she would be defenseless if they found her now. And then everyone's efforts to keep her safe would all be in vain.

Sasuke picked up on this change in the atmosphere, asking her if something was the matter. She passed it off as nothing but her hunger and the two ate their meal in relative silence.

Meanwhile, in Konoha…

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HIM!"

Tsunade was furious. To make matters worse, she was also drunk. This was a combination that promised only pain for the unlucky ANBU members who were reporting to her on the matter of the Uchiha boy, who had gone missing after the battle with Madara. They initially assumed that he might be at the Akatsuki base or one of the Uchiha clan's hidden bases, but searching for all of those returned no results, as they were now here to report to the angry _Hokage_. To make matters worse, not only had all those locations had been cleared out of anything that possibly have been of use to him, but the other _shinobi_ nations, who were also looking for him, had gotten the same results.

The boy had simply vanished. It was as if he had faded out from existence.

His former allies, the members of Team Taka, were of no use as well – they knew about as much of Sasuke's whereabouts as everyone else did, which would be nothing.

"We mean exactly what we said Madam _Hokage_. No one can find him."

Tsunade growled, veins throbbing in her forehead. Damn that brat! Where the hell could he possibly be! "He has to be somewhere, dammit! Keep looking for him!" The two ANBU nodded, a silent acceptance of their orders, and vanished, leaving Tsunade alone to puzzle over the mystery of the missing Uchiha. So many things about the boy's recent actions were unknown - why he betrayed Madara, why he had vanished, why he allowed Team Taka to live in the previously vacant Uchiha complex – and wouldn't be able to rest peacefully without knowing the answers to these riddles, hopefully having obtained them from said Uchiha.

Not without some _sake_, anyway.


	3. A New Land

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 3, go! It's been a while, but I've been busy and will soon be again.

R&R if you will…

Chapter 3 – A New Land

-1-

As a man awoke in a room alone in the Land of Waves, he thought to himself one thing: _I will be sad to leave here, but I will be glad to see my family once more. I'm sure my wife misses me._

His name is Piran, and he came from far across the sea to gain knowledge of foreign lands so that his merchant guild could expand their operations overseas. They were based in the Kingdom of Cornwall, one of many island kingdoms in the Ansax Archipelago, and they had spread to many of those lands. But their leader, a man Piran respected greatly, was not satisfied with only this. He knew there were opportunities far beyond the horizon, and he wouldn't rest until he had realized as many of them as he could.

And that was why Piran was now in _Nami no Kuni_ (as the natives called it), having traveled for about a week on a boat by himself to a land he knew little about that spoke a language he barely knew. Despite his apprehension, he went through with it anyway, much to his wife's displeasure. Before, they hadn't been apart for much longer than a few days, but he had spent almost an entire month away from his homeland, and she had wanted to go with him. He managed to convince her to stay behind, but it wasn't easy; on some days he regretted this decision.

As for the country itself, he found it prosperous. The local merchants he was discussing business opportunities with had told him the history of this small island: How it once sported a _shinobi_ village (something unheard of in his area), how it fell into ruin and rebuilt itself as a peaceful merchant country, how a greedy devil nearly brought the country into perpetual ruin, and how three brave kids and their teacher helped the populace take back their land. It would be a rousing tale to tell his friends back home, and his wife would love the souvenirs he bought her.

But all that relied on his getting home, with which he found one small problem...

"WHERE'S MY BOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!"

His boat had gone missing. The dockmaster, a man whose name Piran had forgotten, was of no help; he said the loss was regrettable, but there was nothing he could do about it. The boat had simply vanished, and with no clues to work off of, he couldn't help Piran out. Unfortunately, none of the other captains actually knew where Cornwall was, so they couldn't help him get home either. He asked around, hoping to run into someone who might know anything about his poor stolen ship (he refused to believe that it sank), but the populace was almost as clueless as he was.

Yet, as he kept up his search for an answer, he found himself hearing of a rather interesting tale: A young boy, the last of his clan and a wanted missing-_nin_, had entirely vanished from the Elemental countries after Madara had been defeated a week ago. At that time, he still had his ship; it was safely docked at one of the many ports. Perhaps that same boy had fled here and stolen his boat in the middle of the night. Perhaps he had sailed off for the Ansax region... there was a map leading to that area, and they would have little awareness of current events here. Perhaps the boy had decided to try his luck with the unknown, rather than stay in a land where he would never know peace.

Perhaps. He had no evidence, but Piran had the feeling that this was right. Now, he just had to let Konoha know about this development; He had an extra map to his homeland, and they would want their ninja back.

And that was how a poor unlucky man ended up as the first victim of Uchiha Sasuke's escape from the Elemental Countries, and was now on his way to get revenge.

-2-

Meanwhile, said Uchiha was now docking at a port on an island the map indicated as being named 'Mann'. He thought it was a weird name for an island, but decided not to question it; the island's name was none of his business as long as he could get a fresh start here. The girl he had rescued, Brianna, was quick to inform him that his currency would be useless here, as most people in the Ansax area had never even heard of the Elemental Countries, so they wouldn't know how much his money would be worth relative to the local currency, something Brianna said was called a 'pound'.

_Foreigners sure do name things strangely..._ he thought.

Speaking of said girl, Sasuke had yet to decide what to do with her. Before, she had been distraught over the fact that they were sailing towards this region – she even tried to make him sail back to the Land of Waves – but when she learned that the were headed for Mann, she brightened up considerably. He didn't know what to make of this, but it was possible that she had allies there, so he kept them on their path. Now, the two had departed their vessel (Sasuke leaving most of his stuff hidden on it) and were heading in towards the town, _Purt ny hlnshey_.

"Thanks again for rescuing me," said the grateful girl. Luckily for her, they had ended up in Mann, which had been the ally of her own kingdom for over a century. Once she reached the capital, _Balley Chastal_, and explained to the reigning monarch what had happened, they would help her take back Eire and rescue her mother, the queen. Now she just had to reach the opposite side of the island without running into anyone who wanted to kill her. As a defenseless maiden, she would be doomed if that happened, but she trusted in her ability to avoid trouble. Besides, she could always ask for help to reach the other side.

Speaking of help, she could turn to the Uchiha, but she had no idea of his abilities; he could be completely useless here. It was best to rely on the locals for help. She did want to pay him back for saving her life though. "Is there anyway I can pay you back?" she asked, hoping that the answer would be no so that she could leave him; he was unpleasant company and had no idea of how to treat a woman with her status.

Sasuke pondered this question. Sure, he could ask her to help him start a family here, but there was no telling how she would interpret that question, and he wanted to avoid any misinterpretations. So, he went with a safe bet; he wanted her to help set him up with a job and a place to live. This port town seemed like a good place to live based off of the girl's description of it, so he would settle down and start the new Uchiha family here. The duo spent the rest of the day doing this, but their search for employment for the Uchiha utterly failed; nobody was actively seeking employment, and people were apprehensive about hiring a foreigner from a land they knew nothing about.

The bandages over his eyes didn't help.

By that evening, however, Brianna had found something willing to transport the two of them to Mann's capital, seeing as how the Uchiha would be traveling with her for a bit longer. She still knew little about him, but she decided to put away her apprehensions away for now; he was honestly depending on her now. Besides, she could use a bodyguard now that her previous ones were either vanished or dead. They spent the night in an inn, deciding to transport the Uchiha's goods to the caravan in the morning.

The boy had noticed that the locals were eyeing him warily that entire day – not that he blamed them. But he also noticed two particular _chakra_ signals following him – no, following the girl – across the town. Wherever the duo went, whatever building they entered, those two would always be nearby. Sasuke wondered if he should engage them or not, but he decided not to reveal his abilities just yet. Word would spread about him if he revealed who he was here, rather than in the forest the two were sure to follow them into. Besides, their _chakra_ signals appeared weak, so he thought he could probably deal with the two on his own once they struck – he doubted that his new traveling buddy would be able to help him, with her mediocre reserves and apparent lack of physical training.

Speaking of the girl, Sasuke would have to get some information out of her as to why they were traveling to the capital, and about the region itself... but that could wait until tomorrow.

Right now, he wanted to sleep, and not much more than that.

-3-

Uchiha Madara was once many things – a feared and respected leader of a powerful clan, a rival to one of the greatest _shinobi_ to ever be born, a controller of fearsome natural powers, and nearly the master of the entire world.

But now? He was only bored.

Oh, and dead. Can't forget that, thanks to that brat.

Honestly, he could hardly believe how much of an ingrate his descendant was. Madara had taken the boy in, given him a new purpose in life, saved him from getting murdered by three _Kage_s at the same time, and even given him his brother's eyes. And how had the boy repaid him? By figuring out the secret to his immortality and killing him!

To make matters worse, he hadn't even gone off to the afterlife as he thought he would. No, he was stuck on this crappy planet, unable to go to worlds beyond, possibly to try and take over them as well.

He sighed. _Well, this sucks,_ he thought. _Damn brat doesn't how lucky he got. I'll have to figure out a way to get him back for this... if I can somehow get a body to possess._ He had lost contact with Kisame, Zetsu and Kabuto, who had all been strangely absent during the Allied Shinobi Force's attack. Kabuto running away made a lot of sense, and he had told Zetsu to avoid direct confrontations, but he expected Kisame to at least show up; the man loved a fight.

While ruminating plans of revenge against his descendant, Madara took no notice of the hooded figure following his ethereal form. Not until it called out to him, anyway.

"Oi, you idiot! Pay attention when people are following you!"

Naturally, Madara wouldn't stand for this, turning around to confront the one who had insulted him. "And who the hell might you be, calling me an idiot, hm? If I ignore you, that's because I have no interest in a waste of space like yourself. Now buzz off, I'm busy."

"Oh?" the figure asked, ignoring Madara's insults. "That's too bad. I could use the help of someone as powerful as yourself, but if you're busy then it can't be helped. I'll just get some other spirit into a body and have them help. Maybe that Sasori guy will be more amiable..." The figure than turned as if to leave, and promptly began walking away. Madara, however, was now interested. Perhaps this was his ticket to gaining a body once more, and extracting his vengeance upon his descendant before claiming the planet as his. He had no other options, so he decided to take his chances with the strange _chakra_-less fool for now. He could kill that one once he was back into a body, after all.

"Excuse me, I don't think I heard you correctly. You said you could me back into a body?"

The hooded figure stopped in place and grinned maniacally, an expression unseen by Madara. "Why yes, I can..."


	4. W

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 4, go! The wait's a bit longer than I wanted it to be, so I hope the end result is good.

R&R please…

Chapter 4 – W

|1|

As midnight fell upon the town of _Purt ny hlnshey_, two figures decided that it was about time to leave for the capital. They found the girl they were looking for, along with her companions, so now was the time to report this news to their boss, the Lord of Mann. Truthfully, they didn't know why exactly they had been on the lookout for this girl, but they had no choice but to go along with it, lest misfortune befall them – for the Lord of Mann was revered as a god, and his word was absolute. Knowing their Lord, they agreed that she wouldn't have a pleasant future ahead of her if their Lord got his hands on her. Besides, wasn't her country of Eire allied with the Isle of Mann? Ever since their people had helped the small island become independent, the two had been at least tolerant of each other, if not friendly.

But now? They were on the lookout for one of that island's most important people, after hearing that she had escaped from her home – and she was to be taken in as a prisoner!

However, the two decided not to dwell on this matter any further; royal matters were far too confusing for common folk like them. They just had to report on this news. Once they reached their transporter, they would be at their Lord's castle in moments, thanks to the wonders of magic. All they had to do was reach the man undetected, and they would be gone with no trace.

"I'll be glad to return home," said one.

"Lucky you," said the other. "With my luck, I'll just be sent back out again." _And I won't get to see her..._ he thought.

"Aww, don't be like that. Remember what your fortune said this morning? 'Good things will happen soon.' Think positive!" This one glanced around, looking for the right building.

The second one sighed. "I'll try to."

"Good! Our guy's in here." They went into a small bar, and immediately began looking for someone sitting by himself. Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone was single that night, so they actually had to look for their guy. This took only a few moments, and their transport was sleeping in a booth. One fist slam on the table took care of that, though.

"Huh? What's goi-? Oh, it's you two. Took you long enough," the third man said, straightening himself up. Bored after waiting alone in a bar for several hours, he did what any man would have done: consumed unhealthy amounts of alcohol, and then passed out. He tried his best to put an air of superiority back up, though; he had magic and his two companions didn't after all. "Found anything?"

"Yep, we found the girl. She's headed for the capital with some guy she picked up."

"Excellent. I'll report this news in, while you two get ahead of them and apprehend the girl. If you can't, slowi-"

"Wait, wait, wait," interrupted the first man, confused. This wasn't how things were supposed to go; they were supposed to return with the transporter, and a small force of knights would set off in the morning. "What do you mean by that? Our orders were to go with you."

The magician chuckled. "New orders came in earlier. You're to grab the girl and quickly deliver her to the capital. A company of knights will set off at dawn to assist you. These are straight from our Lord himself."

That was enough to shatter any desire the two had to question the man. Going against the Lord of Mann was an endeavor that always ended in failure, regardless of who you were. Even their Lord's own sister couldn't go against his will! Because for those that did... only death awaited them (though for some, that would be an improvement).

"...Alright," said the first.

"Mind giving us the key to our inn room, then?" asked the second. "We could use some sleep." The magician gave him the key, and promptly disappeared, having teleported to _Balley Chastal_. As for the two men, they also departed the bar for an inn on the opposite side of the sleeping port town.

"And you said good things would happen soon! Last time I listen to a fortune..."

"Hey, you never know what might happen. This might turn out to be a good thing. Don't be so quick to complain."

The two continued their conversation all the way to the inn, not knowing that they had been watched. The hawk who been spying on them quickly flew away to return to her master's roost; he would be asleep now, but he would want to hear this in the morning.

|2|

[_Everything was on fire, and chaos reigned. Masses of knights and normal people screamed in panic as the flames raged in the castle and across the field. Nobody was sure how the flames arose, but they were there and could not be dealt with. This was where Brianna found herself. Confused, she glanced around and saw a poor man be cut down by a knight – one of her own knights. What had happened? It was as if all logical sense had gone out of the world, leaving only nonsense. Why was her home on fire? Why were her knights attacking their own people, the ones they swore to protect? And where was her mother? The two had gotten separated and now Brianna couldn't find her. But someone found her quite easily._

"_There she is, get her!"_

_Still confused by the utter lack of sense, she made no motion to run from the two knights – who proudly wore the emblem of Eire on their full helmets – and stood in mute shock as they approached her with swords unsheathed. To anyone watching, their intentions toward the girl would seem obvious, but she wasn't able to make the logical connections between what she was seeing. All she knew was that she wanted the normal life she had this morning back, but she would never get it now as the two knights reached her and raised their weapons. She continued to stand still as their blades approached her neck, as one lone voice shouted for her to… wake up?_

_Wasn't she already awake?_]

Meanwhile, Sasuke watched as Brianna continued to sleep, being completely unresponsive to all his attempts to wake her up. During the night, she had somehow left her bed, got into his, and latched on to him. While Takako, his summon, found this amusing, he didn't, especially because she probably wasn't doing it on purpose. This only brought up more questions for him to ask the girl once the two were on the road towards whatever town she wanted to go to, but for now he just wanted her off of him.

And it looks like he would get his wish, because she suddenly awoke in a cold sweat and rose, nearly flying out of the bed as she did so. Her eyes were wide open, full of pure terror, and she appeared to not know where she was just yet, eyes still unfocused. Unfortunately, this sudden motion had the effect of tossing the unprepared Uchiha up and out of said bed, and onto the ground with a crash. He would remember later that her _chakra_s spiked during those few moments, but in that moment his state of mind was the same as anyone else's would have been – pure surprise.

Thankfully, the crash fully awoke said girl, who turned to both sides of the room in confusion and then looked forwards, seeing the Uchiha sprawled out on the ground in the most random position, as if he had been dumped there (he had), and moaning in pain. She promptly burst out laughing.

"I'm glad that my pain amuses you," said Sasuke sarcastically as he re-oriented himself so that he didn't "see" her from an upside-down perspective.

"I'm sorry, but seeing you like that is just so funny, I can't help but laugh," she said while still laughing. "Why are you down there?"

"You threw me here from that bed while you were waking up."

The girl blinked, confused. "Why were you in my bed?"

Sasuke sweatdropped. "You were in my bed. You crept in while I was asleep."

The girl blinked again, uncomprehending. Then, she suddenly understood what he meant by that – she had sleepwalked into his bed in the middle of the night. Her face promptly turned the color of a tomato once she realized that had spent half the night in a bed with a man she barely knew. Thankfully, said Uchiha and her had no mutual feelings for each other, otherwise this would be far more awkward than it already was. Was she having nightmares again? She remembered doing this as a child to both her mother and her maid for the same reason.

"S-sorry about that…" she apologized, unable to meet the Uchiha's face.

"Whatever, just get dressed while I go make sure our transport is awake." Sasuke immediately left the room after saying this, leaving the young girl thankfully alone to calm herself down and prepare herself for what she hoped would be another boring day.

|3|

"So then, my faithful servant… what news do you have for me?"

While we could look further into the details of our protagonist's preparations, they aren't particularly important enough for us to need to know. The awakening of the Lord of Mann in _Balley Chastal_, however, is. Said Lord, who is referred to by this title by everyone except for one person, has total authoritative control over the island and its people, inherited from his parents. While previous Lords would at least attempt to be responsible with their power, reigning themselves if they felt they were going too far, this one acted the part of a pure malevolent dictator – for while the other Lords saw themselves as the representative and ultimate leader for their people, this one felt absolutely nothing for his people. So far, some of his noteworthy actions as a Lord include random property destruction, significantly increasing most taxes for seemingly no purpose, kidnapping, and making people who spoke out against him "disappear".

And that's not even going into his relationship with his family… but we don't need to know that just yet. For now, we can focus on the current event: the reporting of information from the transport magician to the Lord.

"My Lord…" he started, "This news is most important. Brianna Aran is still alive, and she is here, heading for this very location. She will have with her one man as company, who is probably a hired bodyguard from another island." He knew that whatever person the girl had picked up would probably be from this island (he wasn't), but there was no need to tell his Lord that. He might throw a fit, and when that happened, people suffered.

"I see… We shall send off the knights as planned. Where is my sister? She needs to be aware of this and go with them."

"Sir, I reported this information to her while you were asleep. She told me to inform you that she would take charge of the knights."

"Very well then! You many leave now," the Lord said, waving away the magician who promptly vanished for other parts of the castle.

"My Lord, should you really allow your sister to have control over those knights?" asked the Lord's loyal bodyguard, Illiam. He had been watching over the Lord ever since the Lord was a young lad, and while he was concerned about his Lord's actions, it wasn't his place to question those actions. His only purpose was to protect his Lord as he acted out his will. In this case, however… "You know over grudge against you. If she were to switch their loyalty over to her, I would not be able to fend them all off myself."

"Thankfully, you aren't my only defense. Besides, those knights are loyal to me, not her; they know what will happen to them and their loved ones if they go against me. So, don't worry so much."

Illiam nodded, agreeing with his Lord's words, and decided to let this matter drop, while his Lord began to deliberate on other matters.

But, those aren't important to us, so why don't we check on said Lord's sister, Margaid? At the moment, she, along with five knights, are at the armory, loading up with light armor and weaponry. The knights wore a full set of light steel armor, and all carried one broadsword in its sheath. As for the sole girl, she had no armor, so she wore a leather garb instead, and wielded a set of five daggers, all sheathed on her belt.

"Are you prepared?" asked she. While she didn't want to do this, she knew that it had to be done. Her brother's grip on the island had to be destroyed somehow, and if she had to use the powerful blood of the Aran clan to do it, then she would. She just had to figure out how to ditch the knights and deal with that other man the Aran was travelling with.

The company of knights responded with a resounding yes, and they promptly departed to mount up. Hopefully, they could intercept the Aran girl before she walked into certain death…

|4|

Speaking of said girl, she was now on her way to the castle town, along with her new companion, Uchiha Sasuke, and their transport, Juan. The group of three were stuck walking to the capital of Mann, meaning they would have to camp out for a night before they actually arrived in _Balley Chastal_. Thankfully, the Uchiha seemed willing to continue to lend her some of his outfits for the time being. For about an hour, they walked in silence, basking in the ambient noise of the Mann wilderness, but Juan decided to try and strike up a conversation.

"So, what're you two headed for the capital for?" he asked, honestly curious. In all his years as a guide between cities on this island, he had never taken charge of such a strange duo before: a young man with bandages over his eyes, a sword sheathed on his waist, and a single backpack, and a girl with literally nothing but the clothes on her back, who he swore he recognized from somewhere. He had decided to lead them to the capital for free as an act of charity, but he had turned away many others who wanted the same. Perhaps there was something about these two that had attracted him…

But, he put that thought aside for now, listening to the girl's answer (read: the cover story the two agreed on). "We're going to visit my family. They're on an island to the east of Mann, so we want to take a ferry from the capital instead."

"I see… So are you two family?"

"Cousins," replied the Uchiha.

"Ah. Well it's too bad that you won't be staying in the capital too long. It's a beautiful place." Juan decided to say nothing of the fact that the capital was far better when the previous Lord was in charge, as that one knew better than to terrorize his people. But these two didn't need to know that.

The conversation died shortly after that, and ambience was once again the prevailing sound. A few hours later, the group took a break for lunch near a river. Sasuke walked off, claiming that he needed to take a dump, while Juan decided to show Brianna some of the local flora and fauna. Sasuke, however, was not actually going to do what he said; he sensed the same two chakra signals up ahead in their path, so he decided to go take care of them before the others noticed – and also so he could get some information out of them. Based off of what he could sense, individually they weren't much of a problem for him, but having to fight two opponents at once would complicate things. It would be better if he could immobilize one and one him as bait to force surrender.

Now the question was where to set the trap and how to force one of them into it…

|5|

As for the two men, they were waiting ahead of the travelling trio by about a few kilometers – they knew what the route to the capital was, so they knew where to position themselves in order to intercept their target. The only problem was in the waiting; the two had left the port town shortly after waking up, and they had been waiting in their location for hours. They were nearly bored to tears, but they had to persevere, because doing so was the only option available.

One of them, Ean K., sat on a rock with his eyes closed, seemingly asleep but not truly so – he was meditating. He was a tall boy, one of the tallest on Mann, but was also lanky and somewhat clumsy; he has been doing his best to be rid of those though. The other, Ean W., was pacing back and forth directly in front of the other Ean (much to his annoyance). The two were similar in height, but not in age; the second Ean was already an adult, and had the mature look, complete with facial hair, to prove it.

The two are actually master and apprentice knights, despite the fact that they literally had no metal armor with them to prove it. However, both were armed – K with a short sword, and W with a basket-hilted claymore – and both weapons had the Seal of the Lord of Mann on them. The Seal was an emblem that proved one's direct service to the Lord, so having one on you at all times was crucial, and it was the right wing of a dragon inscribed in a ring of gold.

"Aaaaaa.. How much longer can they take? If I was guiding them to the castle, they'd be here by now!" exclaimed W.

"Perhaps they stopped to eat?" asked K.

W immediately paused from his pacing. He hadn't thought of that for some reason. "…They very well could be. Can you sense them?"

K nodded. Both he and his sister had gained from their parents the ability to detect people who can use magic. For some reason, neither the girl they were after nor did the guy she picked up give off a signal, so he could only go off of the one person he could sense. "The guide is still a ways down, the other two are probably near him."

"Hmm…" W frowned. "That's not good enough. We don't know what the unknown man is capable of, after all." He turned to his apprentice, then turned away, towards the port town they had left. "I think I'll go scouting. You stay here." He promptly ran off before K could comment on his random decision, taking his sword with him. The first five minutes of scouting were about as boring as he expected – nothing seemed unusual from the time when they had passed through this patch of forest themselves. Yet, immediately after that time, he began to feel that something wasn't quite right about his surroundings. He couldn't place an exact source for his feeling, because he got the sense that the entire forest was wrong.

_That sort of thing isn't possible, right?_ he thought to himself. _An entire forest can't suddenly change…_ He turned in all directions to survey all that he could see, but still could find nothing to cause him to feel this way. But now that he was more attentive to his surroundings, he could hear a strange rustling that seemed to be both heading towards him and heading away from him. But the leaves were not moving, the grass was not moving, the bushes were not moving…

He realized that the rustling was getting louder and the bushes that he was now facing were now violently rustling, enough so that the bush looked as if it would un-root itself. Unsheathing his claymore, he walked towards the bush at an angle, his sword guarding his upper body and his right hand leading him. Slowly approaching the single out-of-place greenery, he wondered what exactly could be causing the shaking – and why he felt so apprehensive about it. It couldn't be much more than a small animal after all.

Once he was less than a meter away from the bush, he suddenly found himself staring directly into a nest of snakes. One that was in mid-air and flying at him, fangs bared. He was more than a little surprised by this.

Even though he tried to move out of its way, the nest still knocked him over and began to smother him. Despite the fact that he knew he should be able to lift these snakes, he found himself unable to move in the slightest, his body held still in a spread eagle position. This was probably magic, but he never seen such a high-level spell before! Usually, even someone like him could tell if an illusion is magic-based, because the ambient temperature would suddenly go up. It never did in this case, so was this truly magic? Or perhaps some other thing?

A voice suddenly called out to him, one he didn't recognize. "I think this much should be enough."

W blinked. Suddenly, he was not being swarmed by snakes anymore – instead he was being held down by weights tied to ropes tied to his limbs. Additionally, the strange man the two had been shadowing yesterday was now standing over him, a smug grin on the man's face. And he was sure that the man could see his look of shock, because the smirk only became more pronounced.

"Y-you! How did you-!"

"That… is a secret," said the man, Uchiha Sasuke, while making no motions to do anything to him. "I know that you two are following my companion, and I want to know why. You will tell me."

W blinked again. "You mean, you don't actually know anything about that girl?"

Sasuke frowned. "If I did, would you still be alive right now? I don't know why two gown men are stalking a young girl, but it can't be for a good reason. So tell me." _Something tells me I'm about to be very surprised_, thought the Uchiha. Before, he had assumed that her relatives were in Balley Chastal and that was why she wanted to go there, but now he would learn the true story.

W paused. Technically, he had no reason to deny the strange man his request, but he also had no reason to grant it. There was no guarantee that he would be freed for this, but he was also completely at the stranger's mercy until his apprentice decided to go check up on him.

"Alright. That girl…"

|A/N|

Chapters are getting longer… this trend many or may not continue. Depends on what would go in the chapter.

Aside from that, there's nothing of note to say… except that the next chapter should have some fighting. That should be fun.


	5. K

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 5, go! Nothing much to say, I'll let the revelations speak for themselves.

R&R please…

Chapter 5 – K

|1|

At the same time that his mentor was being tied down by illusionary snakes, Ean K sat alone waiting for that same man to come back. He sighed, and glanced up towards the brilliant azure sky. How long had it been since his mentor had left? Five minutes? Ten? Or perhaps less, only around two? Whatever time had actually passed, it was unusual for his mentor to go out to scout for such a long period of time. He said he had always hated it when he was an apprentice, so what was going on?

Perhaps the ones they were stalking had run into his master? It was possible, but hopefully the older man had more sense than to allow himself to be caught easily – even if they didn't know what the blind one could do. That one gave off an ominous aura, despite the fact that he was no magic-user. K wondered what sort of power that man could hold, and then feared briefly for his master who could've stumbled right into his death.

"Maybe I should go check on him…" K said. He picked up his sword and ran in the same direction as his master, also taking his sword with him.

He didn't have to worry about his master's safety, however, because the man was still alive, though he was certainly not well. He was currently being tied down by one Uchiha Sasuke, who had successfully trapped him in a random corner of the forest. And now, he was about reveal classified information to a person that he was going to kill! It was shameful, and the Lord would probably kill him when he found out about this – but thankfully, he had no relatives, so only he would be falling. There are plenty more knights that could take in his young apprentice as well, and many of them would love one as enthusiastic about swordsmanship as Ean K.

_I'll miss that brat when I'm dead. Him and his stories about his sister_, W thought as he began to speak.

"Alright. That girl… is the former princess of Eire. My apprentice and I were sent her by our Lord to capture her."

Sasuke, despite his unchanging outer demeanor, was honestly very surprised by this. There were a few things he was expecting, but for Brianna to be a former princess…

_Wait… former?_ "What do you mean by former?" asked the Uchiha.

"I mean that there was a revolution. The ruling family, the Aran clan, was ousted, and almost entirely killed. The public is not aware that any of the Eire Royals had survived, and it is unknown how they would react to the news."

"I see… So, your Lord, as you call him, was in on this?"

"Indeed. Our small island cannot afford to go against Eire even if it would save her life. We would be utterly decimated. For your sake, you should turn around and go back to wherever you came."

"Hmmm…" Sasuke thought about this. Now that he knew this, a few more things about the girl made sense – why she looked as if she had narrowly escaped a disaster when they met, and why she was so glad to reach Mann. She probably thought she would be safe here, but in reality the inverse was true. This also explained why the girl had reminded Sasuke so much of himself. Like him, she had also had her entire family killed for political reasons. And yet… she didn't seem to possess the hatred that he did. Why was that?

However, Sasuke didn't get a chance to ponder the mysteries of Brianna Aran any further, because a _chakra_ signal was heading right for them. It was the other one of the two stalkers. Sasuke decided to dismiss it for the moment, mentally preparing himself for a fight.

|2|

At that time, however, Ean K was not looking to get into a fight. Primarily, he wanted only to find his mentor and get one with this stupid task they had been assigned to do. Why they had been ordered to hold up the progress of the former princess Aran and her companions was completely beyond him, especially since a company of knights were being sent to do essentially the same thing as they were. Perhaps they were being used only as pawns, tools to measure the abilities of those two. Perhaps not, and the Lord had that much faith in two of his soldiers. Or it could be another reason – any reason really. The Lord didn't need a reason to do things, because no one had the authority to question him.

K thought that this absolute power might have been needed a long time ago, but now… things would improve dramatically if that congregation of power were to dissipate back into the idea that it once was, back into the head of a man (or men) to never come back out.

Especially for him, his sister, and the many like them – captives of the Lord, to be used and abused by his command. The boy wanted so much to escape, and someday he hoped that he would… with his sister of course. But for now, he had to focus on what was in front of him – his mentor, who could use magic even though knights were not allowed to.

Said mentor was tied down by ropes to weights embedded in the ground somehow, and grinning sheepishly at him. K sighed, and turned towards the other person present. This man looked about as old as he was, and wore a black cloak with red clouds on it. One sword was tied to his waist, and bandages covered his eyes. He spoke first, asking who K was.

"I should be the one asking who you are!" exclaimed K, unsheathing his short sword. "Who do you think you are, tying down one of Mann's soldiers like that!"

"I think I was going to travel peacefully through this forest… but then I learned you two were going to attack us. Is that right?" asked the robed man. K flinched, but didn't answer.

The robed man chuckled. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. But if you want to complete your mission, you're going to have to defeat me and take your ally back, right?" Sasuke hoped that his opponent would take the bait. This would gave him an opportunity to gauge the strength of this island's soldiers – as he had a feeling he'd be dealing with more of them in the near future – and also to allow Brianna and Juan to pass by without these two noticing and interfering.

Luck was in Sasuke's favor this day, it seemed, for his opponent decided quickly to attack him. Ean K went for a right-handed overhead swing that would have gone through his forehead, if it wasn't blocked by a _kunai_ pulled out from some compartment inside the _Akatsuki_ robe. K was surprised by the sudden movement, but not intimidated – he actually put more force towards his blocked swing. Sasuke responded to this by suddenly moving to the left, causing K to stumble forward and giving Sasuke a free hit on the unprepared lad – a quick chop to the back of the neck.

As like with Sasuke, the chop wasn't enough to KO K, but it forced him to the ground. Sasuke took this opportunity to try and end the struggle early with a decisive stab in the back, but K rolled away just before the strike would have connected. He then quickly stood back up and assumed a familiar stance – sword guarding the chest with the right hand in front – while trying to catch his breath. _What kind of strength does this guy have?_ wondered K. _It felt like a brick was dropped on my neck! I'll have to be careful not to get hit… but how?_ Answers to this question escaped him, but he needed them soon – or else both he and his mentor – his master, his father figure – were doomed.

As for Sasuke, this small encounter – brief it may have been – allowed him to realize two things. First, his opponent was clearly a novice at fighting. No one with experience in a life-or-death battle would blindly charge at their opponent like that… well, maybe the _dobe _would, but he'd be the exception. Sasuke wouldn't be able to gauge anything about the strength of the rest of Mann's fighters from fighting this person. This naturally led to the second conclusion, Sasuke's suspicion that these two were only being used as pawns, and were meant to be thrown away. Why the Lord of Mann would discard two soldiers like this was beyond Sasuke's understanding, but that didn't matter right now.

Because he could turn this heavily to his advantage. If he did this right.

|3|

About fifteen minutes later…

"You sure that Sasuke told us to wait for him here?" asked Brianna. She and Juan were in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, surrounded on all sides by tall trees. They had been told to come here by Takako, who had suddenly flown in upon the duo eating lunch about ten minutes ago. Said lunch was promptly put on hold once the hawk revealed her news to the duo – also shocking them because they had yet to know that she could talk. So now, they stood waiting for the Uchiha to return.

Takako nodded, taking care not to reveal the surprise waiting for the girl, and for about another minute nothing changed. Then, three figures appeared from the Northwest. One was familiar, but the other two were most certainly not – at least, not to Brianna and Juan. And why was one of them tied up?

"Sasuke, who are these two?" asked both of them, each pointing to one. Brianna pointed at the lad with golden blonde hair, the one you wasn't tied up, and was to Sasuke's right. Juan pointed at the tied-up dark-haired man, whom Sasuke was carrying. Ean K was about to introduce himself and his mentor, but Sasuke spoke first.

"That's not particularly important right now… but they're our allies for the moment. However, you…," and he pointed directly at Brianna, uncaringly dropping Ean W in the process, "…have some explaining to do, Miss Former Princess." Brianna flinched, and immediately began trying to deny this claim.

"W-What are you talking about! How could I be a princess! Don't joke like that!"

"Who would joke about something like that?" asked Sasuke flatly.

"Don't talk as if we've known each other for a long time! I don't know your…!"

"Ah!" cried out Juan suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere! You are indeed the Princess of Eire! But… what are you doing here?" asked he.

Brianna froze, not wanting to tell the truth. Sasuke gestured to Ean K, signaling that he should speak, which he did. "This island of Mann and the island of Eire have historically been allies ever since the Great Revolution, where the current system of government was put into place. It's likely that she's here to ask our Lord for help. Is that right?" he asked, turning towards the distraught girl who was facing away from them, because she couldn't meet their gazes.

All she wanted to do at this point was to become one with the ground she stood upon. She had been completely seen through, her truth exposed! Now she would have to explain herself to Sasuke in full. And to make matters worse, people she had never seen before on an island as far away from her home as Mann knew about her plight and could recognize her. If these people could find her, even by accident, then her pursuers (if they were still after her) could certainly do the same. The chance of her successful escape had just decreased that much more towards the zero that it was slowly sliding towards. Internal panic set in, and the world around her began to fade away into a black haze. Random thoughts (_whatdoIdowhyisthishappening_) buzzed about in a void (_whynowofalltimes_) meaninglessly, each overlapping (__) the next and crushing Brianna (_mumpleasehelpmehelphelpme_) with their weight. To an outside observer, it would appear that the girl had passed out with her eyes closed, and indeed, attempts to rouse the girl were wholly unsuccessful.

"I-is she alright?" asked Ean W.

Sasuke walked around to Brianna's front, and slightly adjusted his bandages so that his right eye could see her face. He frowned. This expression and aura combination were all too familiar to him, because he was like this constantly for a while after the Uchiha Massacre. He knew of only one way to snap a person out of this state after falling so far into the depressions of their mind, and so he used it – it being a good slap to the face. The sudden pain had the desired effect; Brianna mentally returned to reality as soon as she registered getting hit and falling onto the ground. Said move also surprised all the onlookers, but they were more surprised when they looked at Sasuke's face.

"What was that for!" exclaimed a now enraged Brianna at the stoic Uchiha. The answer he gave surprised her.

"For being an idiot. If you needed help, you should've just asked for it," he said, his one visible eye reflecting Brianna's surprised expression back at her.

She blinked once. Then once more. "Eh? You're willing to help me?" asked she.

"Sure. Of course, you'll owe me for this too, but you can worry about that la…" His demand for pay was interrupted by one tearful and overjoyed girl suddenly latching onto him. "…ter." She whispered quiet thanks into his chest, and remained there for a few moments before realizing what she was doing, and promptly detached herself from Sasuke, her face bright red.

"Now then…" continued Sasuke, "let's keep moving. I'll explain things along the way." The group of five humans and one hawk resumed their trek towards _Balley Chastal_, and for Brianna, the future began to look just a little bit brighter.

|4|

"I thought you said you were going to get me back into a body?" asked Madara.

"Oh, I will~" said the hooded figure nonchalantly, looking around for some reason.

"Then why are we over an ocean?"

"You'll see~ Ah, there they are!"

The figure began to hover towards something in the distance that Madara couldn't see, but if he wanted to return to life and restart his Moon's Eye Plan, he would have to follow it (Madara couldn't tell what its gender was). After encountering the odd being and agreeing to help it, the two had suddenly disappeared from the forest where Madara had been wandering to the middle of some ocean, and they had been meandering about for quite some time. When Madara asked how they had arrived here so quickly (the being had no _chakra_ after all), the figure gave a one word response and then proceeded to ignore him when he tried to question it further on this topic.

"Magic."

_So magic does exist after all… when I'm back into a body, I'll have to master some before I start my plans up again._ he thought.

After a few minutes of flying towards some direction (he couldn't tell north from south over this endless blue expanse), the figure stopped on so did he. They were over an island in the shape of a ring, and two figures stood on the beach below them. One was of a form utterly alien to him; it stood as tall as a human and had one's general shape and body arrangement, but was covered entirely in fur and had the head of a dog. It wore a black robe, much like the figure next to him, and held a wooden staff with a crystal ball attached. And the other…

"Itachi!" yelled Madara. "What are you doing here?"

Indeed, it was Itachi, though he lacked the standard Akatsuki robe. His translucent body was clothed with a fishnet shirt and black pants, the type of outfit he usually wore under said robe.

"Like you, I was also offered something of value," replied the weasel.

"Master, who is this?" asked the dog to the hooded one.

"Uchiha Madara, one of the greatest _shinobi_ to have ever lived. He'll be helping us too."

"So what exactly do you need me for?" asked Madara, who figured he should at least what he was getting into. Really, he should have asked this earlier, but he was too enticed by both the thought of returning to life and the reality of magic's existence to remember to ask. If the services of not just one, but two Uchiha were required, then such a task was probably going to be quite troublesome to complete – although he probably wouldn't need that dog-person's help. Speaking of which, he'd have to get an explanation for how such a being can exist at some point.

But for now, his question was being answered. "Under this island, a terrible existence lies in a dead sleep. It cannot be allowed to awaken, so we're here to make sure it stays asleep. So now that enough cornerstones are gathered, it's time to descend beneath the waves into its territory…"


	6. Underneath the Waves

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 6, go! Plots are moving, past and present and future, right along…

It's a shorter chapter this time; perhaps I'll keep this trend up if I ever want to get to regular updates.

R&R please…

Chapter 6 – Underneath the Waves / Night

|1|

At that time, Madara found that he could accept that certain things he held to be true about the world were wrong. For example, he was not quite as invincible as he claimed to be, and there were still realms of power that he had not entered. But what that figure had just claimed – that some manner of monstrous being lay asleep in the oceans here – Madara found that a bit much to believe, despite the fact that he was a ghost travelling along with another ghost, a mage and a dog person into a cave on an island that he was pretty sure wasn't actually on any map anywhere.

But besides that, there were still several things that Madara did not yet understand about the situation (such as everything), and he had yet to get any answers. He had already tried asking the figure that brought him here, but the answer he got was completely nonsensical. Some utterance about a "bloody ungrateful daemon" or something, followed by an absolute refusal to answer. Itachi was also useless, knowing only slightly more than he did – and that slight amount was not helpful. Obviously, keeping this thing, whatever it was, sealed was drastically important; otherwise the hooded figure wouldn't have bothered trying to find him of all people to help. Him, who was just trying to subject this world to his rule only a week or two earlier!

So now, he had to ask that beastly dog-woman for information… even though he didn't really want to.

"_Oi_, dog thing! Explain the whole situation to me properly."

Naturally, said "dog thing" bristled at being called such (even if it was technically correct) and promptly began growling at Madara. "How rude! I have a name you know!"

"Oh really?" asked Madara flippantly. "I must have forgotten it, what with how much I've learned since I arrived here!"

"There are some things humans aren't meant to know, you know!" commented the still nameless dog-woman.

"And I suppose that makes it okay for a beast like you to know them? And what does that make the one you called 'Master' then?" asked Madara in the same tone.

While the first response merely annoyed the female, the second response prompted a thought-consuming rage. Her experiences back in the "home" she had left behind had left her with a diminished self-image that had only recently started to recover, so the insult to her person was not very effective, one could say. But to insult her master (who wasn't actually human but that was beside the point)…! To insult the one who saved her from a life of being used and abused by those who falsely touted that they were advancing "human knowledge" and brought her to a new existence, a resetting of sorts…

No sir, no way, no how. This stranger was not going to get away with that. And so he didn't, the dog-woman doing something quite predictable: attempting to smash Madara's face (unmasked) in with her staff.

The results were not predictable: the attack not only worked, it was also super effective! Madara beautifully flew into the cave wall in a way that would have made any resident of the Elemental Countries wish they had been the ones to do this (even Itachi who got a front row seat). Madara probably couldn't appreciate that moment, but that's rather understandable; he was just hurt physically while being a ghost, something that makes no sense. He promptly commented on this as soon as he recovered from the shock.

"Well, that was unexpected. Perhaps you'll explain at least how that was possible." He said, annoyed.

"We've entered a realm of my own design, outside of proper reality. Things and events here are under my control as long as I'm paying attention. But since I can't always watch over this area, I need you three," said the hooded figure.

"Finally, some plot exposition…" muttered Madara under his non-existent breath.

"So, then, are you finally going to explain what exactly your plan is?" asked the other Uchiha, honestly curious.

"I shall… in a few moments," was the reply.

|2|

"…and that's the plan!" finished the hooded figure, having just explained everything that it could actually reveal to the two Uchihas. "Understand?" They both nodded. Having finished the necessary exposition, the quartet continued into the cave towards some location unknown to us… but not for long, as they fast approached it, as they needed to. For the thing that lay sleep inside this false reality was nearing the end of its slumber, and should it awake… it would still need help in order to break out of its prison, for its chains were simply that strong. And for that reason, the hooded one gathered those willing to follow its commands – the probability of said help being there was quite high, despite the fact that it was not quite the right time yet.

Perhaps who ever needed "it" to be awake wanted to surprise "its" captor by striking early. It was a bold plan, but doomed to failure.

In any case, the group continued to descend into the bowels of the Earth and soon found a strange bright light waiting ahead of them. The hooded one did not hesitate in passing through it, so neither did his cohorts. The four were now underwater, having somehow moved through solid rock (which the three, surprised, turned around to see the rock face containing the cave they just left). The figure glided through the water as if not affected by it, seemingly uncaring of the sudden change in environment. Madara felt that dropping a one-liner here would be appropriate, but after that explanation, he had given up on trying to make sense out of this situation. It was best to just go with it.

He and Itachi, no longer requiring air but still solid, simply swam to follow the figure as they would've if they were alive. The dog thing used magic to create some manner of bubble around it, and followed along by floating inside of it, despite the immense water pressure. After a few moments of this, they stopped in front of what could only be described as one of the strangest constructs ever built. It consisted of several circles arranged in such a way as to suggest the shape of a sphere, except that nothing appeared to be connecting these circles or maintaining the structure. Additionally, there were two layers to the hollowed out sphere, and they rotated in opposing directions. Inside the construct was not water, but a black nebulous mass.

"I suppose that's what can't be allowed to escape, right?" asked Itachi.

"Correct," said the hooded one. "Kallisto, are they nearby yet?"

"Not yet, Master," replied the dog girl, now identified as Kallisto.

"Hmmm… I suspected that they would have arrived earlier, but I suppose something happened to change 'their' plans. In any case, they'll eventually try to reach this area, and that can't be allowed to happen. So, you three know what to do now, right?" The trio nodded. If the area where 'it' was being held was devoid of their enemy, then that meant only that a pre-emptive strike was possible. The three of them were to carry out such an attack, after meeting up with another one of the hooded one's allies. The four of them would annihilate their targets before they could awaken this dreaded creature.

"Excellent," said the hooded one, who snapped its fingers. Their surroundings shifted suddenly, and now they were back outside of the cave. "I'll leave that to you three then. The last piece is waiting for you, and he will explain the rest. Kallisto knows him and where to go, so follow her. With that… farewell!" and the figure promptly vanished, as if it were never there in the first place.

It took Madara only a few seconds to realize that he would have to go without a body for some time longer. He sighed.

|3|

Elsewhere, the group that originally contained only the runaway Uchiha, the former princess, and their guide, and now included two Mann soldiers, set up camp for the night in a secluded area of the forest. After Ean W. and Ean K. joined the group under Sasuke's orders, the rest of the day had been spent continuing the two day trek to _Balley Chastal_, while several things were explained to the group by both the Mann men and by the ninja.

The two Mann men revealed that their purpose in coming to them was to kill said princess, along with whoever happened to be travelling with her. However, they had been forced to surrender by Sasuke, who had somehow manipulated the two of them into walking into a trap. Sasuke decided not to go against this account, even though his success was mostly because of the two soldiers' mistakes. They also revealed that more soldiers were sent in case the duo failed (which they had) and that no less than three reinforcements were on the way. While Brianna and Juan were naturally terrified by this news, Sasuke remained impassive. The two also revealed that this entire plot was the creation of the Lord of Mann, under suggestions from the Eire usurpers.

"So, what is this Lord of yours like?" asked Brianna. The girl had lived a sheltered life before all this, so she knew little about other countries, especially those of small nations like Mann.

Ean W shuddered while rage entered Ean K's expression. "The lad's a brute," started the elder of the two; "He can best be likened to a wild animal: he merely acts on whims, only acting in the interests of his country whenever his advisors can force him to do so. He terrorizes the country and flagrantly disregards the law… but no one can do anything about it. Even if he stood alone against the entire island, he could still win. All due to 'that'…"

'_That'…?_/"'That'…?" thought/asked Sasuke/Brianna. The younger Ean, whose hands weren't tied up, held out his short sword, which had the Seal of Mann on it and showed the seal to the two. Juan who already knew what 'that' was, having seen it before, kept silent, hoping he would never have to see 'that' again. "This seal wasn't chosen only for its aesthetic appeal. This is the island's seal because it is a representation of the ultimate power of the Lord of Mann – the ability to call forth a mighty dragon!" explained Ean K.

"A dragon!" exclaimed a Brianna in awe. Sasuke, surprised, finally changed expressions but said nothing.

Juan nodded. "Yes… it is a great and terrible beast. I have seen it only once before; I hope to never see it again! I couldn't imagine trying to fight against such a creature."

Sasuke, who had fought monsters before and could probably be considered one, was not impressed. "Hmph. Even something like that still can be killed."

"Even so, it would be best for you to avoid any conflict in the capital and to flee quietly," commented Ean W.

"I think doing that is already impossible," said Brianna. Sasuke agreed. "Your Lord already knows that we're here and that we're approaching him. There's no way for us to escape without fighting someone. Besides…" he continued, pointing to the two Eans, "…if we did just run away, we would have to drag the two of you with us, and I'm sure you have family here you want to stay with." The mention of family reminded the younger Ean of someone precious to him, someone he hoped to rescue from the hands of evil.

"Yes… yes, we do," he said solemnly. The older one nodded in agreement, knowing exactly who his apprentice meant.

So, that matter settled, the group continued on until they reached this clearing. The perimeter of the area was entirely surrounded by trees and thick foliage, meaning they would have plenty of warning if someone were to approach in the night. At present, a small fire was burning in the center of the clearing, and the quintet sat around it in a circle, eating dinner. As they ate, they conversed, and eventually the subject ended up being Sasuke's eyes.

"So… you aren't blind after all, are you?" asked Brianna. Sasuke nodded. "So, why did you…?"

"I have my reasons," he said, and promptly changed the subject. "Besides, I think we would all rather hear from you now. Tell us your story." The other three males, agreeing with the Uchiha, all leaned in, not wanting to miss a single word. Confronted by this, the young girl gave in, although she would rather keep her "reasons" a secret as well.

"Alright, alright… But unfortunately, there's not much to say, as I don't know that much either. I remember the attack itself, but everything from then until about the time I ran into Sasuke is more or less a blur." _Please believe me_, she thought, _please don't make me have to remember that again…!_ There was not yet enough time for the mental scars to have healed, so merely thinking about that time was painful. Besides, her mother always told her never to dwell too long on the past and to keep moving forward, a lesson she was glad to have learned; she needed the advice. _Speaking of mother, I hope she's all right…_

Sasuke, who could see _chakras_, knew that she was lying, but the rest of their company did not, so the matter was dropped. He figured he would find out the truth sooner or later anyway, so there was no need to rush. The night for them was peaceful, and they slept with no interruptions.


	7. BYBR 1

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Chapter 7, go! It's been a while hasn't it…

R&R if you will… and Happy Thanksgiving!

* * *

Chapter 7 – Black and Yellow, Blue and Red (1)

|1|

In Konoha, things had finally started to settle down now that the war was over. While it was true that peace was reigning for now, that wouldn't always be the case, so the _shinobi_ were keeping up their guard. Especially one Uzumaki Naruto, who had ended up on border guard duty by some contrivance. The lad was one of the few certain of Madara's death, having seen it first hand, but that didn't mean he hadn't other things to worry about. Sasuke was still missing, and Kabuto had entirely fled the Elemental Countries it seemed – nobody could find either of the two. Based on how Sasuke was acting back then, the fact that he was missing wasn't so bad… but a missing Kabuto could only invite disaster.

Naruto sighed, bored. Nothing had appeared all morning, a trend that was likely to continue. Konoha, despite its progress, was still in places devastated, so traffic into and out of the village was muted. Just as he was about to fall asleep, h

"Hey! What's that over there?" asked the other guardsman at the East gate. He was looking through a pair of binoculars at a point off of the distance. Naruto, slightly interested, looked, but saw nothing. His fellow guardsman, Minoji, handed him the pair of binoculars. "Here, Naruto-kun, take a look! There's a person without a headband approaching the village!" Naruto took them, and looked in the general direction that Minoji was. After a few moments, he saw that person.

He saw an older man who seemed worn out after a long journey from who-knows where. "He doesn't seem like a ninja…," Naruto commented, "but that could just be a trap. I'll go investigate!" He promptly handed the binoculars back to Minoji and ran out ahead, to ask the old man a few questions. Minoji attempted to call him back, but he ignored those calls. Something was telling him that this old man was important, and besides… this could be interesting! It's not every day that mysterious old men come to Konoha by themselves…

It would seem that Piran's appearance is just what Uzumaki Naruto needed. A new adventure!

|2|

If only Piran himself were so lucky. His journey from the Land of Waves, while not so dangerous, was physically taxing. Thankfully, his old bones would soon receive the rest they so rightfully deserved, for Konoha was just ahead! At least, his map said it was, and he trusted in maps. With him, he carried all his remaining possessions – some provisions, a few pairs of clothes, his only suit, and his souvenirs. He paused in his hike to catch his breath, his black hair being waved about in the breeze.

He sighed, annoyed. How much longer would it take for him to get his prized boat back? Weeks? Months? How much longer would he be stranded here, with no way to return home, his wife, friends and partners eagerly praying for his safety? And would the village called _Konohagakure no Sato_ even believe him? He had no evidence, after all, just a feeling, and those can lie…

He could only hope that… What is that thing over there, heading towards him? That orange blur? Piran turned his gaze towards the shape, confused, only for it to slow down as it approached him. The shape turned out to be a blonde boy, who was indeed wearing orange. It seemed a strange choice, if his headband indeed meant that he was a ninja. He was so confused that he almost didn't notice that the boy was talking to him.

"Hey! Who are you!" he asked.

Piran frowned. How rude! "I thought it was a custom here to introduce yourself before asking others for their names," he countered.

Naruto blinked. "Oh. Right. Sorry! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! And you are…?"

"Piran Polsue," he said instinctively, then remembered that last names came first. "My last name is Polsue."

"That's a strange name…" commented the boy. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Nope," Piran said, glad that the boy caught on quick, "I'm from an archipelago that's quite far from here. I'm here because I think I'll need your help."

"And why's that…?" asked Naruto, hoping that the old man was going to say what he wanted him to say.

Sure enough, he did. "I believe… Uchiha Sasuke used my boat to flee the Elemental Countries."

Indeed… Piran's appearance is exactly what Naruto was waiting for.

|3|

And what was Sasuke doing right here and now? More than three-quarters of the way to the capital of Mann, he was staring down the promised reinforcements. Said reinforcements were a group of five knights, being led by a young woman, probably no older than Sasuke. _She must be the strongest one of them, to go without armor... I'll have to take her out quickly!_ he thought, preparing for a fight, getting ready to draw his sword. Behind him was the rest of his group, who were not fighting for their own reasons: the Eans (because that would be treason and they were technically prisoners), Brianna (she claimed to be unable to fight), and Juan (he was most certainly not a fighter).

The woman stepped out in front of her knights, and said a few lines. "My name is Princess Margaid of Mann. If you wish to live, surrender the girl and our soldiers to us!"

"I refuse," said Sasuke coolly. "That girl is no possession of yours. You can have your men back, though." _Besides… I'm not done with her just yet_, he thought to himself. _There's still something about that girl… something strange…_

Margaid frowned, hoping he would have done as told. "Very well then! Men, attack!" Yelling at the same time, her five knights all rushed forward to defeat their adversary. All of the five were experienced soldiers, each capable of easily taking down any nuisances by themselves. Surely this blind boy will only be one more of those nuisances. He's nothing compared to their combined might, right?

As Sasuke crouched down to draw his sword, his bandages slipped down slightly, revealing his right eye. He then opened it, casting a _genjutsu_ on all those knights. In it, he cut them all to ribbons within the space of a second, killing them instantly. While he wasn't powerful enough to make this actually kill them, they did all pass out instantly, at least one of them frothing at the mouth.

Everyone else blinked, shocked at how quickly it ended.

"Eh…?" said Brianna. "What was that…?"

Juan was too shocked to say anything.

"Is that what…?" "Yes, that's what he used on me. But it seems he was taking it easy on me…" discussed the two Eans.

"H-How did…?" asked Margaid incompletely.

Sasuke chose not to answer. He instead, with his sole open eye, turned his gaze towards Margaid. "Now then… I believe you're the one who should surrender," he said.

"Like hell I will!" yelled the red-haired Princess of Mann, drawing two of her daggers, rushing the Uchiha. "I'll just defeat you myself!"

* * *

To be continued…!


	8. BYBR 2

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine.

Here's Chapter 8 for you! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yule/Winter Solstice Day!

R&R if you will…

* * *

Chapter 8 – Black and Yellow, Blue and Red (2)

|1|

Sasuke, seeing the Princess of Mann's direct charge, once again prepared himself for a fight. He moved his left hand to grasp his sword's sheath, and was prepared to draw it… but then he realized something. If simple illusions were so effective on those knights that Margaid had sent out, then would they also work on the princess herself? It was entirely a valid outcome, but Sasuke had no idea what those five daggers the woman had were capable of. It could turn out that they made her immune to any attempts at a mental assault, but it could also turn out that they made her invincible to anything except that. He had no way of knowing, so he had to take a chance.

He decided to bet on Itachi's eyes and cast another, slightly more powerful, _genjutsu_. In this one, Sasuke instead used _Amaterasu_ and burned his victim until they were reduced to a level beyond ashes… to mere molecules.

It was… a total success. A suddenly screaming Margaid fell over backwards - disarming herself in the process – and promptly began to roll around in hopes of putting out an imaginary fire. Sasuke, seeing his success, began to approach the fallen female. Soon, she would pass out, and then he could tie her up so that she could be interrogated later.

Unfortunately, it seemed that fate had other plans. While rolling around in fake pain, she nearly rolled over a small mouse, which scratched her. Her unconscious mind shifted its focus to the sudden sharp pain, and suddenly she wasn't on fire anymore. She instantly ceased her pained cries when her conscious mind caught up with this fact, she blinked, and then remembered that she was in the middle of a battle. This was no time to be rolling around! There were enemies of her plan to defeat and another princess of take charge of! She got up – re-arming herself with her discarded daggers in the process – and charged the strange man once more.

Sasuke mistakenly interpreted this as _genjutsu_ not working on the royalty of Mann, as opposed to the lucky break that it was. He drew his _chokuto_ and prepared himself for the attack, confident in his own abilities.

|2|

Meanwhile, the rest of Sasuke's group was watching the former _Konoha-nin_ and the Princess of Mann as their fight began and escalated. It started off quite evenly – neither side being able to get a decisive strike in their favor – but the tide was certainly turning in the favor of the Uchiha. It seemed that Sasuke's raw skill and speed were far too much for this Princess to counter with her unconventional weapon choice and fighting style. It seemed that she favored a lunging style of strikes, only occasionally going in for swings, and style was one that Sasuke could easily deal with using his abilities. As for the princess, she had no way to negating Sasuke's range advantage due to the frustrating fact that he was faster than her. It seemed like Sasuke's victory was inevitable.

Then Margaid showed that she wasn't quite out yet...

After forcing the Uchiha to lunge back or be stabbed, she held back from pressing the attack, surprising Sasuke. She exhaled a long sigh, sheathed those two daggers, and then pulled out two new ones – one blood red, one cobalt blue. She kneeled down on one knee – as if in prayer – and embedded the two daggers into the ground while whispering something. A confused Sasuke held back, wondering what she was up to. Was it some kind of trap? Was she about to use a _jutsu_? Maybe she was faking him out, hoping to lure him in and strike. Clueless, Sasuke watched as the ritual continued and a magic circle appeared around Margaid.

Thankfully, the elder Ean knew something. "That's the Ritual of the Fire and Ice Swords!"

"The what now?" asked the rest of the party.

They quickly got their answer as the glowing intensified from the magic circle. An appropriately strong wind suddenly began blowing up from the ground, waving around people's hair dramatically (those who had hair long enough so that it could wave anyway). On Margaid's right, a red glow became diffused in the air and the ambient temperature rose dramatically. On the opposite side, a blue glow arose, and the temperature dropped significantly. Strangely, these changes seemed not to affect the princess, who was in a focused state, even though Sasuke could feel them from his position, and was disturbed by them. The glowing focused on the area directly above the princess's two weapons, and then… the two rose out of the ground, infused with a magical glow. Their blades extended somehow and they became coated with differing auras, one hot, one cold. Then these swords embedded themselves into the ground where the daggers once were, and the magic circle went away, along with the strange glowing and the wind.

A stunned Sasuke did nothing in reaction to the completed ritual, and neither did his allies (the knights were still out cold). His immediate thoughts were: _What was that? It didn't look or feel like ninjutsu… she didn't use any chakra at all. Then what could it be…?_ And then he had another thought: _Wait… If she could've done this at any time, then why did she wait until now to do it?_

Margaid rose from her kneeling stance, grasped her two new weapons, opened her eyes… and was immediately angered by Sasuke's annoyed stare. "Hey! What's with that look! That look that asks why I didn't do this earlier!" She forced herself to calm down, remembering that a calm and clear heart was needed in order to maintain the spell she had just completed. "That's because I didn't want to reveal my special abilities right from the start."

"Because suddenly revealing special powers in the middle of a fight can shift the outcome in your favor, right? But I can do that too," countered Sasuke, who had pulled the bandages away from his left eye as well, and was wondering if he should activate his _Sharingan_ yet. "But besides that… why do you even want that girl?" he asked, referring to Brianna. "She's completely useless."

Brianna suddenly felt like punching Sasuke in the face for some reason, despite the fact that she couldn't hear what was being said.

"Eh? You don't know?" asked a surprised Margaid. How this person not be aware of the power in the blood of the Aran clan? Perhaps the girl was unaware of it herself… or just hiding it very carefully. In either case, she still had no obligation to reveal anything to this foreigner. "Well, too bad! I need her for my plans, and that's all you need to know. Now surrender! Or fall before my blades!" she demanded.

But before Sasuke could respond…

|3|

"Let go of me!"

…it seemed that one of the knights had woken up. And he had taken Brianna as a hostage.

"I got her!" said knight exclaimed for some reason. As if we couldn't tell. To make matters worse, it seemed as if two more of the knights were also recovering from the effects of the _genjutsu_. The knight laughed as Brianna unsuccessfully tried to break from his grip. It seemed that it was yet possible for her to break the bonds restraining her under her own power.

Margaid and Sasuke both sweatdropped (they were totally ready for an epic battle and everything!), before realizing that they were seeing what actually happening. Margaid then began cheering in a very non-princessy manner while Sasuke facepalmed. How did he keep getting into these kinds of situations…? This was a very messed-up world he had been born into… in more ways than one. "Sasuke, quit being depressed and do something!" demanded the captive. As for why the two Eans hadn't tried to save her… well, they didn't want to be cast as traitors. They were still pretending to be prisoners, after all.

Sasuke moved to rescue her… and the other princess immediately blocked his advance. "Ha! Now you have to surrender!"

"No, I don't," said a Sasuke who was now behind the enemy princess and rushing to rescue his own.

Margaid blinked. _When did he…?_

She turned around to catch up to the Uchiha, who had paused briefly due to a very important change in Brianna's conditions. Namely, the fact there was now a blade at her throat. "And don't think I won't do it!" exclaimed Knight #1. "Our original mission is still to kill the girl, in case you've forgotten. I don't think our Lord will mind very much if he doesn't get to witness it as long as we bring back evidence." Margaid smiled, and was about to say something to support the knight, but was interrupted. "And don't think I didn't hear that remark about you needing this girl for your plans, milady! Our Lord told us already of your grudge against him and the power that lay sleeping inside this girl…" – _Power? What power?_ thought said girl – "…and now you've confirmed his suspicions! Surely, you will not be able to succeed in whatever evil plan you have prepared!" The princess tried to look innocent, but she wasn't fooling anyone.

"And as for you two traitors…" the knight continued as he turned to the two Eans, "you know exactly what fates lies in store for you, so I won't bother explaining what it is. And your families will suffer dearly for your insolence!" The younger Ean's eyes widened when he heard this news. He couldn't let his young sister suffer for his own failings! "Oh yes! You'll rue the day you messed with the Lord of-!" Thankfully for those present, the rambling knight was forced to shut up once a frying pan was brought to the back of his head, courtesy of none other than…

"Juan!" exclaimed an overjoyed Brianna. "Thank you so much!" She then hugged him.

"W-well, I couldn't just let him get away with this…" replied an embarrassed guide.

This time, everyone sweatdropped… and Sasuke quickly used this distraction to disarm Margaid by sweeping her weapons out of her hands using his _chokuto_. He then pointed it directly in her face. She backed up, and held her hands up in surrender.

"So… who's side are you on then?" asked the Uchiha, annoyed, yet curious.

"…" The princess hesitated for obvious reasons. But, after a brief internal reflection, she decided to take a chance on this foreigner that the last of the Arans had decided to trust. "I'll tell you… but first, maybe we should do something about those knights."

Sasuke noted the change in her wording… and agreed with it. "Very well then. Shall we?"

|4|

Meanwhile, in _Balley Chastal_… a certain Lord saw these proceedings and was quite displeased.

"For my own sister and soldiers to betray me like this…"

"My Lord, it seems that she has acted exactly as I had expected."

"Yes… and that is most troublesome. I had hoped to not have to make her suffer, but it seems that I must. And as for those two soldiers, aren't we keeping that younger one's sister in the castle as a refugee?"

"Indeed, My Lord. The two of them fled here from the land of Scots. Blaanid is her name."

"'Little flower', huh? Bring her to me. I have matters I would like to discuss with her. And alert our defensive forces as to what has happened!"

"Yes, My Lord." Illiam then left for other parts of the castle.

The Lord, left to himself, growled. "I will not allow anyone to challenge my rule as Lord! Not anyone! Not even you, sister!" He then prepared himself for what would come next…

|5|

Meanwhile, in _Konoha_…

"It's over here, man!" yelled Naruto as he guided Piran over to the newly-rebuilt _Hokage_ Tower. Thankfully, the ANBU had seen him leading the man over to the gate, and they had questioned him there. Now, all the remaining ANBU knew that the foreigner had (possibly) vital information, so he was left alone by them. The clueless villagers, however, gave more than their fair share of strange looks to the man who was obviously not from the Elemental Countries.

What drew more attention, though, was Naruto. Piran had no idea what was going with the kid, but from the looks on people's faces after they'd seen the boy, you'd think that he was depressed or something. He thought the kid's overly bright demeanor was slightly annoying, but those faces told him that there was more to the story. Especially that of the blushing girl who was trailing them, not even bothering to hide her presence. She was soon joined by more teenagers, each as strange as the one before. Piran wisely decided to ignore them. He thought Naruto had decided that they weren't a threat either, but really, the boy hadn't noticed them.

As for the boy, he felt happier than he had in a good week. _Finally!_ He thought. _Now I can find Sasuke and drag him back here! I'll keep my promise for sure!_

_**You know…**_ resounded another voice from deep inside, _**this could be another dead end. You have no idea if this man is telling the truth or not. You're just hoping.**_ Now the Naruto had full access to the Kyuubi's chakra, the beast now found that he communicate by thoughts with his brat host. He normally did this to mock the boy, but sometimes he said things like this, things the Naruto himself was not willing to say.

_Maybe I am… but… I think this time, we've really found him. __**…If you say so, brat. Just don't get killed**_**.** The Kyuubi then went silent, probably going back to sleep or furnishing his cage.

Naruto focused back on reality, He and Piran were now outside the _Hokage_ Tower, and he guided the man up to the Hokage's office. The secretary let the duo into Tsunade's office, having already been informed by the ANBU. It seemed that Tsunade had as well.

"Hey, _obaa-chan_! I've got something good for you!" Naruto said, smiling.

Tsunade's left eye twitched. "Is this the man who claims that Sasuke stole his boat?"

Piran nodded. "_Hokage-sama_, my name is Polsue Piran. It is nice to meet you," he said, surprised that a woman was in charge. And such a young one too!

Tsunade smiled. What a polite man! If only Naruto would take a few pointers from him… "Nice to meet you too. Do you know where he's headed?"

"Truthfully, I don't. But I left a map in that boat that would direct him back to my homeland, the Ansax Archipelago. I have another map for you here." He handed it to Tsunade, who glanced it over.

"It's a pretty big area," she commented. "But if that's the only other place he can be, then we may as well confirm it. Naruto, since I already know you won't let it go if I don't send you, go form a team and find Sasuke. Piran, if you don't mind, help the brat."

Naruto's cheer could be heard throughout the entire village. Gaara and Bee, far from Konoha, thought they heard something, but dismissed it as the wind.

Sasuke, even further away, felt a strange and sudden chill.

* * *

|A/N|

It's a bit longer to make up for lost time. I'll try to get another update out before I return to college next week.


	9. BYBR 3

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine… except for a special surprise guest.

Here's Chapter 9 for you! Have some exposition as the New Year begins.

R&R if you will…

Chapter 9 – Black and Yellow, Blue and Red (3)

|1|

The five unconscious knights were troublesome to deal with. Sasuke and Juan didn't have enough combined rope to restrain all five of them individually, so they had to settle with tying the group of five together using an elaborate knot. As Juan was doing this, Sasuke turned his attention back to Margaid, who had surrendered and thus was exempt from this humiliation. At the moment, she was bringing over their horses over to the group.

"We can ride these to _Balley Chastal_," she said.

"Thank you for your help," said Briana. "But… why are you doing this for us? Everyone sent to us from your capital seems to be against us…" She mentioned not her thoughts that this may be a trap, and neither did the rest of their group. "And also… what did that knight mean when he said I have a power?"

Margaid blinked, confused. This wasn't good. "You mean… you don't know?"

Briana nodded.

Margaid sighed, now knowing why the strange swordsman said she was useless. But she wondered why he was keeping her around if he knew that to be true? He didn't look like the type to accept charity cases… Maybe she was offering him some kind of reward if he agreed to help her. But he had not the look of a man who desired riches or fame or territory. She decided to ask him about that later, and also about that strange technique he used to inflict those visions on her (and likely her former knights, too); it didn't seem like any kind of magic she had ever seen before.

"And while you're explaining that, could tell us more about that grudge that guy was talking about? What are you planning to do with this idiot?" asked Sasuke, sensing that a monologue was in his near future. Briana scowled; "I'm not an idiot!" she exclaimed. "So says the person with no knowledge of who or what they are. Sounds like an idiot to me," he countered. She growled, but had no other counter, and so gave him the silent treatment, turning away from him with a "hmph!"

Margaid – and was joined by the Ean duo and Juan this time – sighed, and wondered what she was getting herself into. Could she really trust the future of Mann to these two?

She had no choice but to take that chance, now.

"Alright, I'll explain everything… Briana, you might not be aware of this, but your clan contains some of the most powerful individuals in the history of the Ansax region. It's actually said that if the strength of the Aran were brought to bear against any nation, they would fall within the week. Or at least, that was true of your full strength. I'm sure you're all too aware of your clan's diminishing power, which is why you're now here instead in your home land." Briana made no verbal response to these remarks.

"Eventually, the news reached even here, about the turmoil in Eire, and about how the previous rulers, your parents, were forced to abdicate the throne. Soon afterwards, we received news that you had escaped during the calamity. Many here – including myself, I admit – thought that you would be captured rather quickly, especially once the usurpers assumed control of the military. So we were rather surprised as time passed and no news of your capture – or of your passing – surfaced. Eventually, people assumed that you had disappeared, to live a life safely under a false name…"

"As if I could do that!" exclaimed Briana suddenly. "There's no way I would just give up on my family like that!"

"She was fleeing to get help, which is how she ran into me," continued Sasuke. _Exactly how long was she floating in that lifeboat by herself…?That probably caused her to lose some of her sense of time…_

Margaid nodded. "Right, but we had no way of knowing that. Anyway, messengers from Eire arrived with orders from their new lords: Capture the former Princess of Eire should she appear and report back. My brother, our Lord, revised that order into killing you, thinking he may as well do it for them. You remaining alive would prevent them from having full legitimacy with the populace if they knew. We thought you would never show up on our doorstop to request help – our families were never close – but the task was accepted in return for power. Just the sort of thing my brother would do…

"And then you suddenly show up, out of nowhere! I could hardly believe it! I thought that perhaps, with your clan's legendary power, you might be able to help me overthrow my younger brother and restore peace to the Isle of Mann. But I see now that you can't help me…" Briana apologized. "No, it's not your fault. I've heard that clan abilities are rare anyway, so I was expecting this outcome too."

Sasuke decided not to mention what he had observed about Briana, as he didn't know the nature of her abilities either, just that they did exist. He did ask a question, though.

"So, you have a grudge against your brother because he stole the throne from you?"

"No… the throne here is traditionally passed down to the first-born male."

"Then, it's because of his tyranny?" asked Juan, who had seen it firsthand.

"Yes, but that's not all. I…," she hesitated but decided to tell them anyway, "…also want revenge for our parent's deaths. Because… he killed them! So that he could rule!"

|2|

Meanwhile, in _Balley Chastal_…

The Lord was waiting. He so hated to wait. What was taking Iliam so long to find one person? It was true that this was quite a large castle, but even so, this delay was inexcusable! It's rude to keep yoru superiors waiting! He started pacing around the room, thinking. Perhaps the girl had fled. That would explain why his lackey was taking so long. But that was impossible. Or was it? They didn't bother to keep track of all the people living in their castle ever since his last outrage. Or maybe she was out. Buying clothes or something else that girls did in their spare time. That was entirely possible. And was rather annoying to think about. How dare this random girl skip out on him on the only time he would ever care about her existence! Aaaaaaaargh!

He was so lost in thought that he paid no heed to Iliam re-entering his chambers. The man had to loudly clear his throat in order to get his Lord's attention. The Lord turned his head towards the noise and saw his lackey… and also his guest. She was blond, much like her brother, but her hair was long – it went down to her knees – whereas her brother's hair was short and kept close to his head. She also had a leanness to her that was shared with her brother. Her eyes were a bright and innocent blue, not revealing the suspicion of ulterior motives. Lastly, she was about half a foot shorter than the Lord and wore a common dress.

"You called, my Lord?" she asked, in a voice that reminded him of songbirds. It was no wonder that Ean treasured his sister so.

The Lord smiled, in a way that reminded her of a shark. "Why yes, I did. Just a moment, though…. Iliam, you have already told our knights and magicians to take the necessary preparations."

"Indeed, my Lord."

"Have them gather a few of the castle vagrants and put them in the appropriate places. We're going to have unwanted guests soon, so I'm preparing 'that' as well."

"Yes, my Lord," replied Iliam, understanding exactly what his Lord meant. So, all the blood was to go on the knight's hands, huh? That worked for him just fine. He then left to make sure that this task would be carried out. It seemed to him that blood would soon freely flow…

Blaanid wondered what exactly that exchange was all about, and would unfortunately receive an answer soon. "Unwanted guests, my Lord?"

"Yes, indeed… including your brother, Blaanid. I believe his name is Ean, yes?"

Blaanid recoiled in shock. "What do you mean by that!" she asked, outraged. "My brother is a loyal knight and would never betray you! We have still not forgotten your great act of kindness in allowing me to reside in the castle after our parents died. I am sure that this is all a misunder…" Suddenly, her Lord was very close to her, and she backed away, also silencing herself. He continued to approach silently as she backed away, as if they were two magnets aligned at opposing poles. Eventually, however, she was backed into a corner and was trapped there by her Lord's body.

She panicked. "M-my Lord, w-what are you…?"

"You are too loyal to your brother," he said, with a strangely sad expression on his face. "It's a shame that I have to do this to such a cute girl… but oh well, he has to be punished for his insolence." The shark grin returned, only he seemed to have much more of a shark's character now than he did earlier.

Her panic grew. "W-what do you mean…?" she asked, terrified for her life.

"You remember how your parents died, yes?"

She nodded. Her parents, along with many others in her village, had died four years ago when the village was burned down. No one knew exactly how the fire had started, even now.

"I did it." He paused. "Well, I didn't do it myself, obviously, but it was my idea."

She blinked, uncomprehending. "…huh?"

The Lord sighed. Commoners. "I'll let you in on a little secreeet~. The Lord of Mann can summon dragons."

She gasped. "A dragon! That would explain how it started… But wouldn't someone notice a dragon flying around?" she asked, knowing that dragons could grow to incredible sizes. Surely someone would notice one of those beasts flying around, right?

Evidently not. The Lord poked Blaanid on the forehead with his finger as his grin widened and he kept talking. "Not if it was a baby dragon, they wouldn't! I myself was quite surprised when I learned that the size of the summoned dragon could be changed with the number of sacrifices, but it's a wonderful thing to know, don't you agree?" He then answered for her. "Well, I guess you wouldn't since it was your parents who died, but you're all just my pawns, so I don't care about your lives. You all live and die for me."

Forget terrified… Blaanid was utterly horrified by her Lord's words. How can a man with such noble birth have such an utter disregard for human life? His parents – bless their souls – were paragons of virtue, she was told, and they lived good lives and died unjustly. How could they give birth to something as vile as this Lord of theirs? It was as if something was wrong in his head – or worse his soul – for in no way could his parents be responsible for this monstrosity. Furthermore… what was that about sacrifices? She thought about it for a second… and then she realized something horrible.

"Y-you mean you…"

"Oh, you figured it out? You're a sharp one… No wonder we kept you around. But now, your life – and body – are completely under my control."

She wanted to resist, but she couldn't, it was as if she were under a spell… or in a nightmare that had spilled over into reality.

|3|

Meanwhile in _Konoha_…

Naruto left the Hokage Tower in a state of bliss. Truthfully, he was expecting Tsunade-_obaa-chan_ to stop him from going on the mission, saying something about how his recklessness would probably endanger whatever team was sent. But it seemed like she knew that he alone had the best chance of convincing Sasuke to return. That, and she trusted him. Now, then who should he bring with him on this mission…? He would be going into completely unfamiliar territory, so maybe he should ask Team 8 to accompany him, along with the rest of Team 7. Speaking of Team 7, won't they be surprised when they hear about this! The blond quietly chuckled to himself. The Kyuubi decided to be a good sport and keep silent.

Piran followed, also glad. Now would be returning home! While this was certainly a hospitable land, there's nothing quite like home, especially when you've got a wife there waiting for you. And his guildmaster would be glad to know that there were opportunities here in the Elemental Countries for trade, which was the entire reason he was there. It would only be about another week he would be back in Cornwall. He asked Naruto as they walked towards…somewhere, "So, when are we going to leave?"

"Well, I have to go assemble a team like obaa-chan said… and then we have to go to the Land of Waves since Konoha is landlocked… If we hurry, we can be gone by… tomorrow night, maybe?" said Naruto in a very Shikamaru-like manner. "So let's hurry!" he then exclaimed. "The rest of my team should be at their regular meeting place. We can go look for Team 8 from there." He took off running and Piran struggled to keep up. _These ninjas are something else_, he thought.

A few minutes later, Naruto was at the bridge. Sakura, Sai and, surprisingly, Kakashi were all waiting for him. "YOU'RE EVEN LATER THAN KAKASHI-SENSEI! Where were you!" yelled an annoyed Sakura. Sai and Kakashi had the same sentiment of annoyance in their faces, but said nothing. Sakura was kind enough to have said it for them, although Kakashi could have gone without the comparison to his usual lateness.

"Guys! You're not gonna believe it! I got a lead on Sasuke!"

Team 7 was not convinced, and sighed in unison. "This isn't going to be like last time, is it?" asked Kakashi. Ever since Sasuke had vanished again, Naruto had been constantly looking for clues that would lead to the last Uchiha. He had found one before, but it lead them nowhere and him into moping around the village.

At that exact moment, Piran showed up. The rest of Team 7 turned to stare at the poor, out of breath man, and wondered who he was. Naruto turned, and said that it was about time he caught up. "You'll have to excuse me for not being a ninja," replied the older man. Now the three were very curious as to the man's identity, and how Naruto knew him. "Um… Naruto, who is this?" asked Sakura, again speaking for Sai and Kakashi.

Piran introduced himself. "My name is Polsue Piran. I hail from the Kingdom of Cornwall. I came here to open up trading opportunities between my two lands, but the boat I came here with was stolen a few days ago. I believe your Uchiha Sasuke was responsible for the theft."

"So, you're saying that Sasuke-_kun_ took your boat and sailed off?" asked Sakura.

"Indeed I am. At least, I think so," he responded.

"That would explain why no one can find him…" commented Sai.

"What makes you so sure that Sasuke did it?" asked Kakashi, playing Devil's Advocate. "Anyone can steal a boat."

"Yes, but the theft coincides nicely with his disappearance, and he has a motive. But you're right, I am only going on a hunch," Piran said.

"Hmmm… Well, it's better than what you found last time, Naruto. I'm assuming you had Tsunade turn this into a mission already, which is why you were late," said Kakashi. Naruto nodded.

"There's boats we can borrow in the Land of Waves. I'll take us about a week to sail from there to Cornwall, and from there we can gather information. Shouldn't be too many ninjas over in our neck of the woods, right? If he, or any other ninja, should be there or anywhere in the region, my guild should know," said Piran. "By the way, could you three introduce yourselves? Naruto didn't tell me who you were."

"Oh, sorry. I'm Haruno Sakura," replied the pink-haired girl.

"Sai," was the only thing said by the dark haired lad.

"And I'm Hatake Kakashi," replied the gray-haired man with one eye covered by a _hitai-ate_. Piran wondered why the man did this.

"Now then, let's go get Team 8 and head out!" said Naruto, now that the introductions and explanations were done. It was time to get moving!

|4|

Elsewhere, in Cornwall…

"_Who are we supposed to be searching for, dog-woman?_" asked Madara. The trio consisting him of him, Kallisto, and Itachi had departed from the strange island cave that the still unknown hood entity had lured him to, and they were now on some other island. Not that Madara really cared, but he really wanted this to be over with so that he could get back into a body and start again his plans for global domination. He didn't know what Itachi was getting out of this, and he didn't care enough to ask. It probably had something to do with his little brother, that bastard Sasuke. Madara made a note to kick that kid's ass once he got over being dead. Furthermore… oh look the dog thing is talking. Best pretend to listen.

"_My name is Kallisto!_" she yelled, resisting the urge to make Madara just solid enough so that she could hit him again with her staff. "_And we're looking for one of my master's friends. I'll know him when I see him, don't worry. And I'm using magic to locate him, so I know he's on this island somewhere._"

"_If you're using magic, then why can't you just warp us to the guy or something?_"

"_Because I'm still an apprentice! I'm not that good yet._" The crystal ball attached to the head of Kallisto's staff glowed. "_Ah! He's nearby. There must be a village up ahead._"

And so there was. It was quite a small village, holding only a few hundred people. This would make it easy for them to find their target. Kallisto promptly used magic to camouflage herself back into human form so that they would pass undisturbed. Itachi and Madara, being ghosts, were invisible to normal people anyway, but their target would be able to see them too. Kallisto's staff would also glow brighter once they were within a meter of the man, who was probably also looking for them. They decided to search the marketplace first, figuring that he would have to buy food. That, and Kallisto was hungry. Madara made another snarky comment, which Kallisto decided to ignore again. Once there, Kallisto looked around for anyone who matched her master's description. There can't be that many red haired people, right?

It turned out that there were none, so Kallisto decided to eat at a tavern. Thankfully, she had conjured up some money that morning, anticipating something like this. As her food was brought out, a man in a cloak sat next her at the bar.

"Haven't seen you around here before," he said.

"That's because I'm not from around here," replied the human Kallisto.

"Oh? What brings a lady like yourself here?"

She turned to the figure, sensing that something was strange about him. "I'm looking for someone. Red haired mage."

"You are? What for?"

"My master said I should seek him out. We need his help with a problem of ours."

"Ah! So you're Kallisto, then?"

"Yes, I… wait, how did you know? Are you the one we're looking for then?"

"Yep!" said the figure, who lowered the hood covering his head. It revealed his red hair and dashing good looks. "Name's Nagi Springfield. Nice to meet ya!"


	10. Capital 1

Disclaimer: _Naruto_ is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine… except for that guy.

Here's Chapter 10 for you! It's time for the decisive battle over Mann's future to begin… yet there are still secrets to be shown…

R&R if you will…

Chapter 10 – Capital (1)

* * *

A few hours passed, and the Lord of Mann was once again forced to suffer the agony of boredom while his adversaries approached – one familiar, one foreign. He knew that this conflict would happen one day, but he had no idea that waiting for it would be so torturous. After his soldiers set up everything he would need for 'that', he proceed to wait for the guests to arrive – but he forgot that riding to his capital from wherever his sister's group was would take many hours. He swiftly became annoyed with this delay once he remembered that.

Perhaps he might send a magician there to escort them back to the castle quickly? No…the man he sent would likely attempt to attack on his own, and would be murdered swiftly. His sister was not a joke of an opponent, especially for someone like him, who was not normally a fighter. And this stranger she was escorting… he felt something fundamentally strange about him, yet also familiar. What could that be…? This sense of recognition puzzled him, and annoyed him further, to the point where he had to get up and wander the castle to find something to drive that feeling from his mind. He needed to focus on destroying his enemy, not understanding him!

A sudden headache struck him as he was walking. He decided that walking around on the castle walls might do him some good. The weather was nice at this time of year. As he walked, he saw his sacrifices waiting obediently, not knowing that they would soon give their lives in the service of their Lord. As He willed. He chuckled, confident that victory would surely be his. Was he not blessed by the gods after all? And also by their pets, the dragons? What can one man do against the forces that can alter Worlds and Universes?

The chuckle grew into a laugh as the Lord was approached by two knights. When he noticed their presence, he stopped and gave them his attention. They never bothered him unless it was important, after all.

"Sir! We can see them now! They'll be here in a few minutes."

"Excellent!" The Lord smiled. Things were going his way up to this point, now to make them stay on track… "Set a few companies out to 'greet' them. I trust the girl is where she should be?"

He was talking about Blaanid, and his knights knew this too. They nodded. The girl could be seen from a distance in the direction that Margaid's party was coming from, but the effect wouldn't be complete unless he was there too.

_Let's end this, dear sister…_ thought the Lord of Mann as he waited for the time of the showdown, now close, as he wished.

* * *

A short – in terms of the size of the island – distance away from the castle walls, the group of five-turned-six rode their way towards _Balley Chastal_. The Princess of Mann led the group, with Sasuke to her right and slightly behind her. Behind those two were the two Eans, followed by Juan and Briana. A few kilometers from the castle walls, the group stopped to observe what was prepared for them, which consisted of about 5 companies of knights, each having 5 people in them. And on top of the curved castle wall…

"Is that him?" asked Sasuke, looking directly at the one with the darkest chakra besides himself. The man's hair was jet black and seemed to flow down his back like an obsidian waterfall. His eyes were also black, and he seemed pale. He was dressed in a simple black robe, something that both Sasuke and Briana found strange.

"Yes… that's him," responded Margaid.

"And he has my sister!" exclaimed the younger Ean. "We have to save her or she'll be sacrificed!" The four who were going to fight – Sasuke, Margaid, Ean W and Ean K – got off their horses. Their mindsets differed significantly, but their goal was now the same: the dethroning of the current Lord.

For Margaid, this day could not have come any sooner. She had sat back and done nothing about the suffering inflicted unjustly on her people for far too long. She felt the time was nigh for a change in leadership. Of course, she would still have to deal with the knights defending their Lord, but there was no reason that speaking the truth shouldn't sway them to her side. They were not taught to serve blindly after all, but to value those virtuous traits that all humans hope to possess. That they had done nothing, as she had, was likely caused by either fear or naivety… or both even. Whatever the reason, her brother could not be allowed to continue as the Lord, and she just had to convince them of it.

For the older Ean, he was truthfully just sick of the tyranny of their ruler. There was no grand motive involved for him; he just wanted peace. That was all. For himself, and for his apprentice – his surrogate son. That wasn't too much for an aging man to ask for, right?

For the younger Ean, he was also tired of their ruler's nonsense. But he now had a new reason to fight – to preserve his precious sister's life. When the two of them had arrived here from the region of Alba with their parents, they felt that they would be able to survive here as they could not in their ancestral home due to perennial warring. Yet their parents had died, and still he knew not why that fire had started. He did know, however, that he alone would have to take care of himself and his sister, which is why he joined the military and begged the Lord to let his sister live in his castle. And yet, this same Lord was the one who now held her hostage and threatened her life (and possibly done other things to her that he could not consider). There was only one thing he could do now…

For Sasuke, he was doing this only so he could move on from island… initially. What Margaid said about their Lord killing his parents had brought back feeling of hate that did fuel him and his power, but that he had wanted to let go. But it seems that hate is everywhere, and he can't escape from other people's… or his own. When considering that and everything else that one had done, it was a wonder that he still lived. Only the extreme power of the dragon could be responsible for this monstrosity's continued breath. And so, Sasuke resolved to force its summoning and then crush the beast. That would break the Lord's will, and then he could break the Lord. If that dragon didn't completely exhaust him anyway…

As they approached the castle walls, the group of twenty five trained soldiers placed themselves in between our heroes and their Lord. There appeared to be a temporary leader amongst these equal men; equally temporary is his importance. He called out to his Lord's sister. "Milady! You must halt! We do not wish to harm you." And that was the truth. Being forced to choose between the two remaining members of the royal family pained their subjects, for they knew not what forces had borne this madness and shaped it so well into this spectacle.

Margaid would soon change that. "If you don't wish to harm me, then don't. I am only here to talk to my brother over a few matters. I'm sure there's no reason why we can't have a rational discourse," she said, continuing to walk towards the gates. The two Eans held back, not sure if they should step forwards too, and Sasuke did as well, waiting for the inevitable call for an attack.

At this point, the Lord decided that he should say a few words as well. "Oh? And what would we be talking about, my dear sister? I already know everything you could possibly tell me, after all…" The Lord chuckled a bit. He found something rather funny about this whole situation, but it seemed that nobody else could. Their loss. "Besides, you have something far more important than yourself with you. If you'll hand over that girl, I may be inclined to show mercy to you," he continued pointing at Briana.

"I will do no such thing!" declared the Princess of Mann. "This girl is not your property."

"Oh? But isn't she residing on my island? The one that I rule?" the Lord asked.

"The one that you stole! From our parents, your own flesh and blood!"

The knights gasped. Those others who knew the truth said nothing. The Lord raised a single eyebrow. She was choosing now to do this? _Better feign innocence_, he thought.

"Stole? On what grounds do you make that accusation?"

"On what grounds?" Margaid was livid by this point, and everybody on the ground was making a point to clear away from her. Even the Uchiha took a step back, though he wouldn't admit to it. "I saw you standing over our parent's dead bodies with a bloody sword in your hand!"

"Well, that could just be circumstance. I could've gotten there before you." countered the Lord.

"That would be a valid argument…if you hadn't immediately tried to kill me with that same weapon!"

"And where would this weapon be, if I may ask? Without it, you have no evidence." The correct answer was nowhere, because he had told Iliam to have it destroyed. Iliam was loyal to only him, so there was no danger of the murder weapon suddenly appearing.

"Iliam has it. I told him to keep it far from you because you would want it destroyed," was the response Margaid gave.

The Lord nearly choked on his tongue. He swung around towards his most loyal bodyguard, who was doing his very best not to look guilty. The Lord flew into a rage. "YOU? OF ALL PEOPLE… YOU?"

"It was an order, sir," was the excuse. The Lord's left eye twitched rapidly. He soon heard a noise arising from the knights on the ground, stunned by the revelation that their Lord was indeed both patricidal and matricidal. The news that their benevolent previous Lords had been murdered by such a beast that was now parading about on the throne, pretending to be legitimate and fooling everyone…. No. They could not possibly follow such a man, could they? As men who were raised to be righteous, they couldn't follow such an abomination. The 'leader' amongst them spoke up, declaring their intentions to change their allegiance from their Lord to his sister.

This was exactly the outcome Margaid was hoping for, so naturally her brother would panic on the inside. He was losing control far too quickly! A headache struck him again. Pained, he stumbled slightly. Only Iliam made a move to attempt to catch the disgraced Lord, but he found that he couldn't quite move right. It was as if something were holding onto his limbs, holding him in place. The Lord growled and rose up, rubbing his forehead. He opened his eyes, and the black of his eyes had now gained a slight purple color, and were glowing just a bit – only so much that Sasuke might notice, but no one else would. But before that, he noticed the sudden change in the Lord's chakra, as well as in those knights before him who now seemed frozen in place. Their bodies were surrounded in a purple chakra that seemed to be suppressing them, preventing them from doing as they freely would.

Sasuke looked up to the top of the castle wall, at the Lord, who was holding himself up using the wall as a support. What sort of powers did this man possess besides his summoning ability? Perhaps this battle would be more taxing than he thought…

"So, then…" spoke the Lord, causing the rest of Sasuke's group to turn their attention to him, "not even my loyal knights will follow me. What a collection of worthless disloyal trash. Go ahead and die."

And so, they did. All twenty-five knights fell off of their horses, blank eyes gazing at whatever happened to be directly in front of them. Their horses, startled, ran off. The group of six stared at the twenty-five murders, unsure of what had just happened. The unhumored Lord continued to speak, as more knights appeared from the castle, all with eyes of purple (as their Lord's was becoming) , controlled by their enraged Lord's will.

"If you honestly think, my dearest sister, that I will relinquish this throne to you or to anyone, then you are sorely mistaken. This is my island. It is my property and mine alone. All that lives on it is mine. The trees, the animals, this capital, the people… even their lives belong to me. This land shall be under my control forever, and anything that attempts to stop me from accomplishing this, even if it's you, even if it's our parents, even if it's god himself… shall be put under my command as well. So yes, I may as well admit to it… I did kill our parents. And now, you will join them in oblivion, along with your allies.

"Men!" he yelled. At this, the new set of twenty-five tensed up, preparing to attack. Sasuke, Margaid and the two Eans brought their weapons to bear as well.

"ATTAAAAAAA~CK!" The larger group, having no choice in the matter, rushed the smaller one. And above, the Lord made another signal… for he knew that this would not be enough. No, he would need a far greater power than mere humans in order to rid himself of these particular weeds…


	11. Capital 2

Disclaimer: Naruto is the creative property of Masashi Kishimoto, everything else is mine… except for that one guy.

Here's Chapter 11 for you! It's been a long time…

R&R if you will…

Chapter 11 – Capital (2)

Shortly after making that signal to commence the Ritual of Dragon Summoning, a group of knights inside the castle began their tasks, unconsciously controlled by their Lord. About twenty citizens living in the city were staying within the castle walls for various reasons – many because their homes were destroyed at random by the Lord – and were in various states of wakefulness. This group of knights, also totaling twenty, began moving those citizens into the area between the outer castle wall and the actual castle. From where they were fighting, the members of Team 'Punch the Lord of Mann in the Face Repeatedly After Beating Up These Knights' could not see the gathering, and if they had, they would have immediately put a halt to it. For the strength of the summoned dragon is determined by the quality and quantity of the sacrifices, and twenty would be enough for a beast at least slightly beyond their ability to handle. Not that this would stop Sasuke… but that comes later.

As for the will-be sacrifices, the ones who weren't woken up by the knights were extremely confused and concerned for their lives, while the ones that were originally sleeping weren't quite awake enough to think straight. All of them, however, could hear the ruckus from outside and began to chatter amongst themselves as to what was going on. Was it a rebellion to overthrow the Lord? Was a nearby island invading the capital? The knights gave them no straight answers when probed, saying only to wait for… something; they never said what. Their eyes had a strangle glint in them as well, but the villagers could not tell why this was so, having limited knowledge of magic.

They had not long to wait, however, for the Lord soon appeared before them, slightly uncomfortable due being outside for so long. All the villagers, even the sleepy ones, immediately bowed before him while the knights kneeled on one knee. The Lord gave a hearty chuckle. This was how it always should be! His people bowing before him, docile and subservient, obeying without question and respecting his authority. He told them to get up, and they all did so… and now the villagers had very faint purple glows in their eyes, but no-one would notice them and not even the Lord suspected anything.

"My Lord, what is going on out there?" asked one, a middle-aged man. "Are we being invaded?"

"Yes," said the Lord, "by traitors."

The crowd gasped. Traitors! The punishment for treason was death! Who were the ones who thought they could successfully betray the Lord?

"To make matters worse…", continued the Lord, answering the crowd's question before they could ask it, "two of their number are knights… and one is my own sister, the Princess Margaid."

The crowd gasped louder. "Not the Princess!" many of them exclaimed in approximately unison.

"Yes… it is quite astonishing. As we speak, my brave knights are fighting against her to quench her foolish desires. It is a shame that she felt this was necessary… I am more than willing to talk to any of my loyal subjects about their grievances. And now, she shall die for her crimes, along with the two fools she had misled. Ah… how unnecessary." Yet, as he said this, he knew that he should have taken care of this long ago by simply killing her on that night when she became the only witness. Why he didn't was a mystery that eluded him to this very moment. But he let those thoughts pass, so he could focus on the task in front of him… the sacrifice.

"So, then… why were we summoned?" asked the man from earlier.

"Because I need your help with something, something that will help me take care of these pests infecting my land," was the reply. At the same time, the knights silently moved into position, the villagers having already been arranged into a proper circle before the Lord had arrived.

"What may he do for you, my Lord? We await your command." They still suspected nothing as the knights armed themselves and stood directly behind them.

"If you want to help me, then die for me." Before any of the villagers could process this they all felt a peculiar pain in their midsection, and fell down to the ground having been stabbed through the gut. None of them died instantly, which has good for the Lord, for some of them had not fallen in a way that was appropriate for the circle. The knights promptly fixed this at their Lord's unconscious command. Of the twenty villagers, two were children, six were women, and the rest male.

"Excellent! That went better than I expected. Now for you lot." The Lord snapped his fingers, and the knights lay on the ground, completing the circle of flesh. They then took their swords and sliced open their own throats. As the forty subjects were dying, the Lord began his evil chant…

At the same time, Sasuke's group was busy dealing the issue of the mind-controlled knights attacking them. They were solving it using the only method available to them: fighting their way out of it. Being non-fighters, Briana and Juan sat out to side, being guarded by the younger of the Ean duo. His elder counterpart Ean W, Sasuke, and Margaid were preoccupied with dealing with the swarm of knights.

They were doing a rather good job of it, in fact. If the Lord had stuck around to see it, he might have been impressed, and then annoyed by the fact that they were on opposite sides. Life always seemed to deal him bad hands at rather odd times. But, back to the battle.

Sasuke, used to fighting single enemies or small groups (barring the _dobe_), would have been overwhelmed by the sheer numbers if not for his speed. With it, he was able to position himself and the brain-dead knights swarming him so that he never had to deal with more than two of them at once. He noticed that despite the knights' inability to control their own movements, they seemed to have no problem swinging a sword around. And whatever the Lord of Mann had done to them made them less affected by pain, so he had to knock them out to get them to stop moving. He hadn't used any jutsus yet, deciding that it would be better to save them for the dragon.

Margaid didn't have time to complete her ritual, so she fought using her normal daggers, not wanting to risk damage to the magic ones. Despite her disadvantage in reach, she managed to hold her own against the horde of knights. The sheer numbers kept her from getting an opening to complete the ritual on her own, and if she asked Sasuke and W to cover for her, they would probably be overwhelmed. She couldn't risk that just yet, not knowing what her brother was up to. Well, she had a good idea, judging from the eerie silence from the castle, but her brother was full of unexpected tricks.

Like that spell he had suddenly pulled out of nowhere. She had no idea he could magic, and neither had her parents. It was precisely because they though he couldn't that they allowed her to learn instead, and why she had the magic weapons. For how long had he been hiding this ability…? She had to put that thought away as another knight lumbered at her.

Ean W, being the only normal person fighting, was naturally faring the worst. He was doing well enough, and wasn't in any serious danger due to his skill and experience, but he would clearly need some backup long before his two fellow fighters, assuming the flow of knights wouldn't ebb. But it did, and he was able to hold out until the last one was knocked out by him. In total, twenty-five knights had been defeated, all still alive. The three fighters reconvened with the non-participants.

"Well, that... takes care… of that…" breathed out an exhausted Ean W.

"So, now what?" asked Sasuke.

"Now, we go after my brother. He should be inside the castle somewhere…" They all turned towards the castle. It was the largest man-made structure on the entire island, and the entire grounds within the outer walls spanned over a hundred acres. The total floor space inside the various buildings inside those walls would likely tack on a few more. The rest of the group faced Margaid.

"…You're right, that's a silly idea," she said. "Once he sees that we're not coming after him, he come find us."

And so, they decided to wait. As they waited, Sasuke decided to ask Margaid a question about her brother. "Has he always been able to do that? That mind-controlling technique?"

Margaid shook her head. "No… I have no idea where that ability comes from. We all thought that he couldn't use magic, which is why I have these magic daggers and not him."

"It would seem that he found a way around his lack of magical abilities. Perhaps a spellbook? Some of them don't require any actual abilities in order to use, I've heard…" commented Juan.

"But if he was using one, wouldn't we have seen him use it? That can't be it," countered Ean K. "I thi…"

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden surge of wind coming from the castle grounds. Above them, the sky began to darken dramatically as massive black expanses of clouds grew out from nowhere and dominated the skies above them. Bolts of lightning began to streak across the sky, accompanied by thunder. A golden glow also emanated from the inside of the castle walls in the shape of a circle. From this, it was easy for our heroes to figure out that the place of the glow was where the dragon summoning was occurring. All of them quickly dashed over to the castle walls, not being able to ride there because their horses had run away when the glow appeared.

Once the group entered the castle walls, the glow became so strong that they couldn't look directly at it. This was made difficult by the fact that the man they were looking for, the Lord of Mann, was chanting something on the opposite side of the magic circle. But, as they began their approach to the opposite side of the glow, they noticed that it was beginning to fade, so they decided to wait until they could see clearly to pursue the Lord. After a few minutes, it had completely ceased.

Then, they saw the bodies. Reactions varied from abject horror to disgust to strong anger. Next, they saw the Lord, who also saw them. He laughed.

"Hahaha! You're too late to stop me! Look up!" He exclaimed in joy. The group of six did so, and marked the presence of a black whirl in the sky. It was a vortex that was solid black on the inside, and appeared to consist solely of a dark mass. The lightning was focused to the inside of it, and millions of volts of electricity flowed freely there. As they wondered what a hole in the sky had to do with the Lord's summoning, they noticed something. The rumbling they had all thought was thunder was getting louder, and was beginning to resemble the roar of a mighty untamed beast.

And then… it appeared. A single, massive blue claw. It was followed by another. And then a great snout. The rest of the beast spilled out of the swirl, as the humans who saw this event stood transfixed. It was easily the size of about half of the main castle, and it's wingspan made it seem twice as large. Its claws gleamed in spite of the lack of sunlight, and steam spilled from its gaping mouth. It roared once, and that was enough.

There it was. The dragon.


End file.
